


Our Past Hopes and Search for the Future

by Liza_Taylor



Category: God Eater (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-09-16 03:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 57,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16946196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: She knew she had to be strong. She was the leader of the First Unit. She must not show any weakness, no pain, everyone was counting on her. However this facade can't be held forever, especially when the past finally catches up to her.Post God Eater Burst storyline and extends into GE3. Main ships are SomaXGE1 Player character and HugoXGE3 player character





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The player character's description/name is based on the one I used in the game.

 Aria stretched her arms over her head before running her fingers through her shoulder length black hair. Beside her, in the helicopter, were Alisa and Sakuya. It had been a girls day out, God Eater style. Which meant fighting Aragami in the City of Mercy.

"I can't believe my first day back we end up having to fight three Vajras. I think Tsubaki assigned it to us on purpose," sighed Sakuya.

"Oh Tsubaki wouldn't do anything like that," protested Alisa. "She seemed to have a lot of fun at the wedding, so she cannot be that angry with you."

"Might have gotten a bit too drunk though near the end," Aria pointed out.

Sakuya shook her head. "Don't remind me. I really thought she was going to wear the cake as a hat…"

Alisa and Aria shared a look. What many didn't know was that Aria had a picture of that scene. Alisa was the only other one with a copy. Tsubaki would kill them if she found out.

"But anyway, how was your honeymoon?" asked Alisa. "You two have fun?"

Aria grinned. "You guys did some naughty things right?"

"A…. Aria!" protested Sakuya. "A girl should not talk like that!"

Aria shrugged and looked away with an innocent look on her face. "I have no idea what you mean."

Sakuya rolled her eyes. "You two are going to make the driver feel awkward."

Aria glanced over at the front of the helicopter. The guy was focused on driving the chopper, but he would look back at the girls now and then. At least until he caught Aria staring at him.

"You two went to the mainland, right?" asked Alisa. "Hung out by the beach?"

Sakuya crossed her legs and nodded. "Yes, it was nice. We couldn't go in the water though. The area was very, very light on the Aragami, only small species and they were more afraid of humans than anything else."

"Well it sucks then you two only got a week. Aren't honeymoons supposed to last a lot longer?" Alisa looked at Aria for confirmation, but Aria just shrugged. It wasn't like she knew much about this kind of stuff either.

Sakuya lightly touched her armlet. "Yes, that would be nice but we both have a job to do here." She smiled at her fellow God Eaters. "Both of us did not want to leave you guys fighting without us."

Aria grinned. "You just missed us, right?"

Sakuya laughed. "Yes, that's it." She turned to Aria. "I need to thank you though, for writing that letter to let us have a week for a honeymoon. It's hard to get more than a couple days off in one sitting around here."

Aria shrugged. "It was no big deal. I'm just glad I could have helped out." After stopping the Devouring Apocalypse and getting Lindow back, she was on a good track record for the branch. There were more than happy than to listen to her request to let Sakuya and Lindow get a week-long vacation. Well, it might also have something to do with how she wrote in that Lindow needed to recover in an area without many dangerous Aragami around. A little fibbing never hurt anyone right?

"Girls, we're here," the driver announced as the helicopter landed.

"Thanks!" called Aria as the girls stepped out.

They entered the den to see that Lindow had returned from training the new New-Types. Both Fredrico and Annette had happy smiles on their faces; obviously the training has gone well. Lindow's face lit up when he spotted Sakuya.

He met her halfway and embraced her in a tight hug and a peck on the lips. "So how was your first day back on the job?"

"Same old, same old," replied Sakuya with a laugh. She looked back at Aria. "Our fearless Captain made _sure_ it was the same as always."

"Hey now, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a demon," protested Aria.

"Well remember that time we fought that one Sariel?" Alisa pointed out.

"Or the time we fought that Sekhmet at the temple," added Sakuya.

"Or the time you fought the Corrosive Hannibal with me," put in Lindow.

"There was that time when you went on a mission with us and you got _really_ intense while fighting a Quadriga? Remember that Fredrico?" spoke up Annette.

"You guys," protested Aria. She played with the ties of her dark brown hoodie. She never went into battle without it. At this moment she wanted to cover her face with the hood of it, a very Soma thing to do now that she was thinking about it.

"What're you guys talking about? I want in!" Kota's voice rang through the den as he walked in.

Right behind him was Soma along with Tatsumi and Kanon. Aria had "loaned" them out to the Second Unit to help against a troublesome Chi You that had been poking around the Outer Ghetto.

"We were talking about how our Captain here can be a demon sometimes," said Lindow.

"Oh, you mean like the time she decided to bash that Aether's head in a wall a few times?"

"Really Kota? Really? You too?" Aria gave him an expression of pure betrayal. "I trusted you." She shook her head sadly. "I guess I won't be giving you the Bugarally figurine I found for your birthday."

"Whoa! Hold on a minute!" Kota yelled. "You don't have to do that really! You're a fine captain, not a demon at all on the battlefield. Uh…I'll give you my corn on the cob ration for a week?" He turned to Soma. "Help me out here!"

"You're on your own," Soma grumbled. "I'll be in my room if you need be."

Aria watched his back as he went to the elevator. Although she would never admit it to anyone, she was in love with Soma. She did not know when it happened exactly, she could not pinpoint an exact day, but ever since their first meeting she was intrigued by him. Sure, he had been off-putting at first, pushing everyone away but gradually Aria had broken through his shell. She saw his insecurities, she found out the secrets of his past. Back then she thought she had a chance, at least until Shio appeared.

Shio had changed everything. Aria knew from the way Soma looked at her, from the way Soma cared for the Aragami girl, she knew she didn't have a chance. She was the Captain of the First Unit at that point and she knew she could not be selfish with her emotions. The team was much more important than one individual. She "gave up" in a sense. Even now, with Shio gone, there was no way Aria was going to tell him how she felt. It would ruin their relationship, it would cause a rift in the team. Overall, there would be much worse consequences than if she was just any normal God Eater.

So even now she kept quiet. Watching from afar was fine. Being there when he wanted to have a small chat with her was fine. That was just fine for her.

"You guys will understand when you find someone you love," Sakuya's voice pulled Aria out of her thoughts.

The conversation seemed to have moved on without her.

"I can imagine. You two are just so cute together," said Alisa.

"I wonder which one of you lovebirds will end up hitched next." Lindow looked at every person in front of him in turn. A twinkle was in his eye, obviously he was trying to stir up some mischief.

"The next one will be me!" Tatsumi raced down the steps. "Hey Hibari, want to have dinner together tonight?"

"Oh ummm, I'll need to check my schedule," Hibari replied quickly.

"Oh Tatsumi," sighed Kanon.

"You need to give him credit for being tenacious," Aria pointed out.

Tatsumi returned with a downcast look on his face. "She's busy tonight, going out with other operators…"

"Don't worry, you'll get it someday," laughed Lindow.

***

A couple of days later Aria was in the Den waiting for Hibari to assign her to a mission. The attacks by the stronger Aragami had lessened recently so the First Unit hadn't been mobilized as much together. Most of the time it was just routine missions, fight a few Ogretails, clean up some Zygotes. A few had come in to fight Chi Yous and Kongous but not many.

"There doesn't seem to be much…" commented Hibari. "Oh, Tatsumi, Brendan and Kota are going to clean up some small Aragami that were found in the residential district, you okay with helping out with that?"

Aria nodded. "That's fine." Normally she would not have minded spending a day or two in the Den. She loved having time to pour over the notes on various Aragami to figure out new battle strategies but, that, combined with Dr. Sakaki's random experiments to try to figure out how her resonance worked, it was nice to get out into the field again.

Hibari nodded. "They should be heading for the chopper now, I'll tell them you are on your way over."

"Thanks Hibari."

Aria made it to the chopper just before it was about to take off. "Well we haven't been on a mission together in a while," Kota said cheerfully.

"Yeah," agreed Aria. "It seems like the First Unit has been assimilated into the other Units," she laughed.

"Hey now, we appreciate you guys taking the time to help us out," spoke up Brendan.

"You can't always be fighting Arda Novas and Hannibals," laughed Tatsumi. His expression turned serious. "Alright, so the area we're entering is a residential area. Kota, Aria, I know you two don't usually fight in places such as this so I'm saying be careful in how you swing your sword and fire your guns. The people living there should have been evacuated but there might be a few stragglers around. Don't go destroying the houses if you can help it."

"Got it." Aria's brow furrowed like it always did when she was entering her tactician mode. "And it was just some Ogretails and some Zygotes right?"

"There was also some Cocoon Maidens spotted as well." Tatsumi handed the survey report to Aria. "They shouldn't be a problem as they are on the north end."

"The Ogretails and Zygotes seem to be congregating more in the south." Aria frowned. "That's the direction the evacuated were sent right? I'm guessing they are smelling them."

"Thankfully it's only a bunch of low leveled ones. If it was a Kongou we should have been there hours before," said Brendan.

"So what's the plan?" asked Kota. "Go in there and shoot them up?"

"I think that's the gist of it," laughed Aria. She handed the notes back to Tatsumi. "I say it would be best to focus our attacks on the Ogretails and Zygotes first. Probably the Zygotes. They are quick little buggers and we don't want them to get past us. Ogretails are a bit slower so we have more time to take them out before they cause any trouble. One of us can go north and take care of the Cocoon Maidens so we aren't wasting any time…" She trailed off as she realized she was slipping into her Captain mode. "Ack! Sorry Tatsumi. This is your gig."

Tatsumi laughed and gestured with his hand that it was fine. "You are our demon of the battlefield. I trust your decision. Plus I was thinking of something similar."

"I really wish everyone would stop using that nickname," Aria sighed.

"We're right overhead!" yelled the driver.

The four God Eaters got to their feet and picked up their God Arcs. Aria rested her Laoyang sword on her shoulder as the door was opened. A blast of wind pushed her back, but she grabbed the handle by the door to avoid being blown backwards.

"I count five Ogretails and four Zygotes below."

"I'll head north and take care of the Cocoon Maidens," offered Bredan.

"There are probably more nearby so be careful," said Tatsumi.

"Don't any of you dare give up on living!" ordered Aria before she jumped out of the chopper. She positioned her sword in front of her, the blade transforming into a huge jaw. The Ogretail didn't see her coming as she landed on it, the jaw devouring the Ogretail's oracle cells.

The small fry were no match for her. Her blade tore through them like they were butter. And not the kind that the dining hall sometimes served.

Kota was behind her, firing his bullets at the Zygotes while Aria focused more on the Ogretails. She could sense Tatsumi next to her doing the same. Thankfully they were simple Aragami. She had no idea how to fight bigger ones without causing too much of a mess.

***

As fast as it had begun, it was over. Kota put down his gun after another quick survey of the site. Like always, the lower ranking Aragami were no match for members of the First Unit!

"That has to the record for the shortest mission ever," said Kota with a laugh. "Maybe I should start helping out the Second Unit more often."

"But then we won't get to fight Ouroboros together and what's the fun in that?" laughed Aria.

Kota stared at Aria in mock-horror.

"I'm going to go help Brendan out. It seems like there were more Cocoon Maidens there than what was estimated."

"You want us to come and help?" offered Aria.

"Let the Second Unit have some of the credit," laughed Tatsumi before he took off. "I've already radioed in that it is safe for the evacuated to come back. Maybe stay here and make sure everything is okay?"

"We can do that," said Aria.

Kota was impressed with how efficient the Defense Squad was. Sure, he had helped them out now and then but that was usually missions outside of the Outer Ghetto. Kota made a note to buy the members of the Defense Squad drinks or something later.

"Come on Kota, let's go see if everything's alright." Aria and Kota began walking up and down the streets. Already people were trickling back in and going about their daily business. Kota remembered doing the same thing when he wasn't a God Eater too. It was a rough time back then.

"I hope Mom and Nozomi don't have to deal with a situation like this ever again," said Kota. "After that one Aragami attack…" He shook his head as he thought of the many emotions that had torn through him when he heard E-26 had been attacked. He couldn't do anything about it either as he had his own missions to do and had to rely on the Defense Squads.

"Don't worry." Aria patted her friend's shoulder. "The Wall is stronger now. Those probably just got in before it was fixed and kept low…." She frowned as they reached the edge of the Ghetto and was met with the Anti-Aragami wall. "Wait a moment…" She looked around the area with the frown on her face.

"Hey Aria? What's up?" She had the look on her face when they were about to be ambushed by a bunch of Aragami. He looked around nervously and cocked his gun at the ready. Well if anything was around, he would blast it out of the sky!

"Kota? What section of the residential district are we in?"

"Huh?" Kota stared at her dumbstruck. It wasn't like her to ask a question like that.

"I was too busy reading the reports of the Aragami and didn't pay attention to the section. What section are we in?"

"A-2? Why do you ask?"

Aria stiffened for a moment but then relaxed. "Oh…A-2 huh…"

"Hey Aria, what's wrong?" Was there something wrong with A-2? Kota tried to think over everything he knew about it, but nothing came to mind. This was just like any old section of the Outer Ghetto. Nothing important or special happened here.

Aria shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing. Should we go back and wait for the chopper? Brendan and Tatsumi should be done soon. We can watch some Bugarally when we get back."

Kota's face lit up. "Yeah! Let's do that!"

The two turned to head back to where the chopper had dropped them off. They didn't get very far as a voice echoed from behind them.

"Aria? Aria? Is that you?"

The two God Eaters turned to see a young woman run over to them. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and it bobbed back and forth as she ran over.

"Aria! It is you!"

"Ayame…" whispered Aria.

"I can't believe it, I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" She gasped as her eyes took in Aria's God Arc. "You are a God Eater after all! I'm so happy for you!"

"Uh Aria?" asked Kota in shock. He looked back and forth between the two girls as his brain tried to process what was going on in front of him. Aria knew someone from A-2? How?

"Oh, right. Uh, Ayame, this is Kota. He's one of my fellow God Eaters. Kota, this is Ayame…"

Ayame gave Kota a bright smiles "Nice to meet you Kota. I hope Aria has not been much of a bother."

"Oh she's not been a bother at all," Kota said quickly. "In fact she is-"

"That's enough Kota," Aria put in. She turned back to Ayame. "How are the others doing? Fine?"

Ayame nodded. "Somewhat I guess. We're all still around so that's a good thing I would say."

"Ayame! What are you doing over there?"

Ayame turned to the voice. "Jun! Jun, look who it is! It's Aria! She's a God Eater!"

Kota spotted a boy about the same age as Aria by one of the houses. He leaned against a wall with arms crossed. He glared at Aria and Kota for a few seconds before turning away. "Come on Ayame, we need to check on our place. Got to make sure the _God Eaters_ didn't mess it up this time."

"Oh come on Jun, don't be like that!" protested Ayame.

"It's fine, don't worry about it, you go on ahead, we need to head back to the Den soon as well," put in Aria.

"Well I'll tell the others that you stopped by, I'm sure they would love to hear about it," said Ayame. She dipped her head slightly to Kota. "It was nice meeting you."

"Oh, it was nice meeting you too."

"Come on, let's go Kota."

Kota gave one last look at the retreating Ayame before following his captain. Questions were on the tip of his tongue but as he stared at Aria's back, he did not want to voice them.

***

Soma plopped his meal down at the table before he sat down with the other members of the First Unit, minus Aria. He used to always take his meals in his room as to avoid having to deal with other people as he did not enjoy the words people said about him behind his back. However, after that idiot had ended up as First Unit's captain it seemed like the First Unit had changed and in turn she affected everyone else at the branch as well. Now people at the Branch did not see him as a monster anymore, more like one of the stronger members of the First Unit.

"Aria said she's going to be coming down later. She was finishing up the report from today's mission," said Kota.

"Wasn't today's mission Tatsumi's?" asked Alisa. "Why is she writing the report instead of him?"

"She insisted on doing it when we were in the helicopter on the way back," replied Kota. "Oh, but get this, something very _interesting_ happened during today's mission."

"Really?" Sakuya's voice was slow. Not like Soma could blame her. The last time Kota said something was interesting it was because he had found a rock that looked like a bug from that Bugarally show he watched.

"No, I'm serious this time guys!" protested Kota. He glanced around the cafeteria before leaning in closer. "So, we were in A-2 right? We were heading back to the pick-up location and this girl came up to Aria. They knew each other! And not even that, there was a guy too. He didn't seem very happy that she was there, but she knew both of them!"

"Well it would make sense that she would know someone from outside the Den," Lindow pointed out. "I mean, it's not like we all just grew up in the Den…" He glanced over at Soma, who just shrugged. It was the truth, no point in taking offense to it.

"Yeah but that got me thinking." Kota rested his arms on the table, dinner forgotten. "I've never heard Aria talk about them. I mean, I talk about Mom and Nozomi all the time."

"Yes, you do have a point." Alisa tapped her finger against the table. "I've never even seen her take a vacation day to spend time with them either." Her eyes widen as she seemed to think of something. “When she resonated with me after…” She glanced at Lindow and her face flushed. “After that, I got feelings of memories, like warmth and happiness but not what the memories were themselves. But I know she got full detail of my own memories of what happened to my parents.”

"Now that you mention it…" Sakuya frowned. "Lindow, remember when she was first assigned here? How Tsubaki introduced her?"

"No last name…" murmured Lindow. "And none in the records either…"

Soma was not about to contribute to this conversation. However, he also felt the same confusion as what the others were probably feeling. She knew about all their lives but none of them really knew hers before she came to the Den. He couldn't remember any time where she brought up something about her life before becoming a God Eater.

For some reason, that thought really bothered him.

"Hey guys, why do you all seem like you are deep in thought? Are we talking philosophy or something?" Aria plopped down at the table. "Sorry it took so long, that report ended up taking a bit longer than I thought it would…" She looked around the table. "Why does everyone seem so dark suddenly?"

"Uh…Captain…." began Alisa. "Can we ask you something?"

"Sure?" Aria blinked slowly and looked around the table. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?" Soma could see her shifting into her “Captain Mode.”

"No, nothing like that," put in Kota. "I... uh, I was just telling everyone about what happened today…with Ayame?"

"Oh, Ayame." She relaxed. "You are wondering how I know her? Well, we grew up together. Me, her and a bunch of other kids."

"So you two are sisters?" asked Sakuya.

Aria shook her head. "No, nothing like that. We were all orphans."

Soma almost dropped his spoon. Orphan? She was an orphan? Everyone else at the table seemed to have the same reaction. It wasn't the fact that she was an orphan, heck everyone had some tragedy in their lives, it was the nonchalant way she had said it. Like she was talking about the weather or what they were going to have for dinner.

"Oh my," Alisa ventured in. "You raised yourselves?"

Aria shook her head. "No, Nee-san took care of us. She was older. She raised a bunch of us together." She shrugged. "She was the older sister and mother for the rest of us."

"'Was'?" whispered Alisa.

Aria nodded. "Well, we don't know what exactly happened to her. She became a God Eater when I was ten. When I was twelve she stopped visiting us." She shrugged. "Don't know what happened to her."

"Did you check the records?" asked Lindow. "She might have been transferred to a different branch."

Aria pushed strands of hair behind an ear. "I guess I could but, this is going to sound dumb, but I never knew her name. None of us did. She was always Nee-san to us. So I couldn't even look her up even now. Anyway, why'd you ask about this anyway Kota?"

"Curiosity I would say," put in Lindow. "I mean we've never heard you talking about them before."

"And you haven't visited them either," put in Sakuya.

"Oh well that's because of Jun." Aria gestured to Kota. "You remember him right? The one that yelled? We had a sort of…falling out when I left to become a God Eater. He is pretty much the head of the family in a sense so I felt like it would have been weird to go visit you know? Anyway, doesn't this soup taste funny to you guys?"

"Now that you mention it, it seems to have a weird aftertaste…" said Sakuya.

Soma silently watched as the conversation shifted away from Aria. Was it really that simple? He did not know if he was reading her right, but her smile seemed strained and she played with the string of her hoodie. She was engaged in the conversation, but it seemed to him, she wanted to leave.

"Soma? Earth to Soma?" Kota waved his hand in front of Soma's face.

Soma blinked. "What was that for?" he snapped.

"You were staring off into space!" If Kota was standing he would have jumped away.

"More like staring at a certain someone," murmured Lindow.

Soma did not like the glint in Lindow's eyes. Aria was staring at him now too, her head tilted slightly to the side. "Is anything wrong Soma?" she asked.

Damn it.

Soma stood. "I'm done," he grumbled. He headed for the back to toss the dishes and tray away. He could hear their half-hearted attempts to call him back but they didn't push it further, like always. He took a wide berth around the table as he headed for the elevator. He couldn't figure out why her strained smile just would not leave his head.

"It's none of my business," he growled as he smashed the button for the elevator. But even though he told himself that, why did it still bother him so much?

***

Aria collapsed face-down on her bed. She turned her head to stare at the area by her couch. On the shelf that took up the back wall, was a collection of photos that spoke of her time here as a God Eater. There was nothing there that even hinted at what her life was like before becoming a God Eater (although they didn't have a camera in the Outer Ghetto).

She had tried to keep everything away from that time from her room to keep it out of her mind but in the end, it ended up catching up with her after all.

She remembered how everyone looked at the table when Kota asked her about Ayame. She had answered of course, it would have been weird if she didn't. True, she didn't feel any problem with admitting she was an orphan. It was a common story in this day and age and she didn't remember her real parents. All she could remember was being raised by Nee-san.

Frowning her thoughts shifted to Jun. He looked alright from the glimpse she had of him from afar. "Still angry though," she murmured. She shut her eyes as her thoughts drifted back to the memory of that day…

***

"Jun…" Aria looked over at Ayame for support. The girl just nodded and prompted Aria to continue.

Jun was in the middle of weaving a basket-trap out of some branches he had found on the street. Mizuno was sitting nearby, weaving her own basket. Jiro, Shin and a couple of the others were out to see if they could gather anything else for dinner tonight. Even though most of the kids that were raised by Nee-san were now nearing adulthood, they still stuck together no matter what. They were family. They also continued to help the community by taking in any orphan children they found. They didn't want anyone else to live without the feeling of having a family.

 _But I am going to break this family apart a little_ …

"What's up Aria?" Jun looked up.

Aria took a deep breath and let her emotions fall away. She needed to stay calm no matter what. She needed to be a tactician and guess how Jun was going to react. All her theories went back to one outcome. Not good.

"Aria has something very important to tell you Jun. Please listen to her till the end," said Ayame.

Aria squeezed her sister's hand for a few seconds. Ayame was the only one she told in advance. "Jun. The God Eaters have done another round of tests in the area to find new God Eaters."

"They have huh?" Jun returned to his basket-weaving, but he was pulling at the branches harder than before. "Stupid Fenrir, sticking their nose where they do not belong. Always looking for new people to toss into that organization and then send them off to die."

"Well I've taken the test as well," continued Aria. She noted the clipped edge to Jun's voice.

"Oh?" Jun looked up. "Did they do it because they promised food? Did you get any food out of it? We might be able to do that to feed some of the younger ones. Touma is starting his growth spurt so he's always hungry."

Aria shook her head. "The food isn't important here. Jun, I tested positive. And not just for any kind of God Eater but a New-Type."

"A New-Type huh? Interesting name they are coming up with. You just walked out of there right? Laughed in their faces or something?"

"Nee-san was an Old-Type so this is a big deal," put in Ayame.

Aria held up a hand and gestured for Ayame to step away. "Jun, I'm being serious here." She looked around the shabby house. It was one of the bigger ones in A-2 because they had a lot of people who lived under this one roof. It could not compare to the cleanliness and the brightness that the testing room had. She sighed and took in a deep breath. "Jun, I took them up on the offer, I'm going to be a God Eater."

Snap.

The branch Jun was holding broke in half as he stared up at Aria. Mizuno's eyes were wide, and the younger girl looked back and forth between Jun and Aria in horror.

"Please Jun," begged Ayame. "This will be good for us. Aria would get paid a lot more as a God Eater, we won't have to worry as much."

"A God Eater!? You want to become a God Eater!?" Jun got to his feet, his basket forgotten. "Aria! You know what the God Eaters did! You saw how Nee-san looked whenever she visited! Remember her last visit before she disappeared for good!?"

Aria shivered as she thought of it. Nee-san had looked over her shoulder a lot, like she was afraid there was something after her. She had kept the meeting short before disappearing never to return.

"I know Nee-san was like that, but that can't be how it always is. There are some possible side effects with becoming a God Eater, Nee-san probably just had a problem. The technology is better now, I should be fine."

"'Should'!? You are going to base it on the fact that you could be fine!? What about Mizuno? Ayame? Shin? Jiro? Touma? You are just going to abandon them and just run off to become a God Eater?"

"Jun," Aria struggled to keep her voice level and her whole body relaxed. If she got riled up it would only make things worse. "This is better for everyone in the long run."

"Better for you I would say," spat Jun. "You are just going to leave everyone behind like Nee-san. You are going to become a part of that dreaded organization which will ruin your life and leave everyone else guessing what happened to you!"

"Stop it Jun!" cried Ayame. "You don't have to yell at her like that!"

"Of course, I have to! How else am I going to get it through her thick skull?" Jun again gestured to the shabby house. "Aria, you and me, we are considered the ‘parents’ of this family. We are the older brother and sister that need to take care of everyone. You have a tactical mind and we need that here. You always have plans and strategies to solve any problem we face. You are just going to leave that all behind?"

"Don't worry…I planned for this," said Aria. "I thought of ideas, and strategies."

"She even wrote a bunch down for us to use while she's busy." Ayame pulled the papers out of her pocket and held them out for Jun to take. Aria had written in her smallest handwriting and used every inch of the paper to write strategies that could help the others out in any crisis.

Jun took the papers from Ayame and looked them over. "You're serious about this," he murmured.

"Yes I am." Aria's voice did not waver. She had a couple of days to think it over. She heard what the Far East Branch had told her. She would be the first New-Type of the Branch. She had strength and abilities the Old-Types didn't have at all. It would be stupid for her to not take this chance.

Jun gritted his teeth. He looked Aria in the eye and ripped the papers in half.

"Jun!" cried Ayame.

"You are not allowed here anymore," Jun said in a dangerous low voice. "I won't let you cause any more suffering for this family."

Aria remembered when Nee-san had not visited for a couple of months. Jun had been upset for weeks, throwing tantrums constantly They were twelve, only children when they were tossed out on their own. They had to become adults to care for the other kids and Aria had adapted faster than Jun did.

"Jun! You can't do that!" cried Ayame.

"Yes Jun, don't do that," echoed Mizuno in her soft voice.

"I made up my mind. Leave." Jun turned his back to her and sat back down to work on his basket weaving. "You will never be allowed back here again."

"Alright," Aria whispered. She turned away and grabbed her pack by the door.

"Aria…"

Aria smiled at Ayame. The girl was only a year younger than Aria but now she reminded Aria of a lost child. "Ayame, you need to step it up now and take care of everyone." She looked at Jun's back and the angry way he stabbed the branches into each other. "Take care of everyone, including Jun."

"Aria…you are really…"

"Jun is the boss around here and you and I both know that."

"You are also a boss as well." Mizuno walked over to Ayame and grasped the older girl's hand like a lifeline. "You're really going?"

Aria ruffled the younger girl's hair. "Yeah I'm going. Say bye to the others for me okay?"

Ayame rubbed her eyes but the tears did not stop pouring. "I…I will…"

Aria gave one last look at Jun's back before she turned and walked out, never looking back.

***

True to her word, she never did step foot back in A-2. It wasn't much of a problem since the First Unit was the Assault Squad so she always fighting beyond the Anti-Aragami wall. She had thought about sending her first paycheck to them, but she didn't do it at the last second. She knew if Jun got to it first he would rip it up without thinking of the money.

"They seemed okay…" Aria stared up at her ceiling. Ayame looked a little skinner since back then but the girl also seemed to be taller as well.

"I hope everyone else is fine as well." Aria got to her feet and walked over to her fridge. She cracked it open but frowned when she saw the lack of drinks in there. Due to the amount of free-time she had recently, she had spent a lot of it in her room going over strategies for fighting stronger Aragami, such as the Venus. That also meant she drank the drinks she stored in her fridge and she kept forgetting about restocking them.

"Guess now's the best time…" She grabbed her wallet and headed for the vending machines just down the hall from her room.

"Hmmm…" She slowly trailed her hand over the many buttons as she tried to calculate which drinks she should buy. Kota and Alisa liked hanging out in her room occasionally, so she should stock up on drinks for them. Thankfully Sakuya and Lindow brought their own beer when they visited so she never needed to worry about that. Not like she was old enough to get a beer ration anyway.

"I can get about four of these and about three of these…"

"Are you going to be done sometime today?"

Aria looked up in surprise to see Soma standing behind her. "Oh! Hey Soma." She turned back to the drink machine and then back at him. Did he want to buy something? She stood and stepped to the side. "Go ahead, I'm going to be here for a while, need to restock."

"You need to make them buy their own drinks." He put his money into the machine and pushed a button. "They have money too."

Aria shrugged. "It's easier this way, plus I know Kota is sending a lot of his money to his family and Alisa…well I'm not exactly sure what she does with her paycheck…wait, did you just snicker at me?"

"No," he replied quickly. He tugged the top of his hood to cover more of his face.

"You were," she protested. "Really now Soma, are you just jealous that I don't buy you drinks? Well I would if you actually visited my room like Alisa and Kota." Actually, now that she was thinking about it, everyone visited her room to hang out but Soma. Well, she had to give him credit for sitting with them during dinner at least. He was getting there, slowly.

"I don't have much to talk about with them," replied Soma. He picked up the can of coffee and opened it.

"Well if you are done with the vending machine, can you please move out of the way?"

Soma shifted to the left and leaned against the wall, sipping away at his coffee as Aria began buying drinks.

"Do you really not trust us?"

Aria almost smacked her head against the machine. "What?" She looked up at Soma.

He shook his head. "It's nothing…"

"That is not nothing!" Aria scrambled to her feet and grabbed the arm of his jacket before he could walk away. "Of course I trust you guys, we all go into battle together." She smiled. "I kinda need to trust you guys."

Soma sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

Aria crossed her arms. "Then…how did you mean it?"

Soma looked away. "You seem to know about everyone else's past around here and yet we knew nothing about you. You should have seen how Kota and Alisa looked when they realized they really didn't know anything about you, like a bunch of sad little puppies."

Oh.

 Aria looked back at the vending machine. So that was what this was about. "Well…just for the record, I found out yours by accident really. I didn't know the disk Dr. Sakaki gave me were files about you." She winced. From the way he was glaring at her, it looked like that did nothing to lighten his mood.

She sighed. Soma could be so intense about the weirdest of things. "Well it was more or less, I think I was trying to forget them," she replied. "Jun is the type to hold grudges. I remember one time when a shopkeeper ripped Kimi-she is one of the younger kids-off on some food. I figured that the shopkeeper just did not have enough supplies to go around but Jun took it personally. He banned us from going to that shop again.

"I didn't care about it that much but the younger kids really look up to him. It was best for me to not go back and risk them getting in trouble with him." She paused as she thought of something. "Oh, but Jun isn't a bad guy. He's really great when you get to know him, he just seems really prickly at first."

"It sounds like you really miss them."

Aria hoisted the bag of drinks onto her shoulder. "I guess I do but I made up my mind when I made the choice to become a God Eater. I don't regret that decision. Anyway, have a good evening Soma."

***

Soma watched as Aria headed back to her room. She had sounded normal when she had talked to him. Again he was hit with how strange that seemed. She had spoken like it was the weather or something else that was light and fluffy.

Now that he was thinking about it, he realized that he had never seen her display any sort of sadness. Hell, did she even cry? Even when Shio died, she did not cry. She had looked forlorn, sure, but she had not cried like Alisa did. She stared him straight in the eye and nodded when Shio had requested to be devoured.

" _Do it for her sake Soma…"_

Her voice had not wavered. No hesitation. He knew if he couldn't do it, she would have done it in his place. "Sometimes I wonder if you are more of a monster than me…" Soma stared at her closed door.

Again, he was struck by the weirdness of his actions. He had stepped out because he had heard her in the hallway. Why did he end up coming out here to talk to her? It wasn't the first time he had heard her walking around outside at this time. It was common for her to take trips to the vending machine. Why did he come out and talk to her?

He crossed his arms and leaned against the machine. Was he getting that soft? Was he actually worried about her after that talk during dinner? "What the hell is wrong with me?"

The elevator opened and Sakuya and Lindow stepped out. Sakuya's arm was around Lindow's waist while his was around her shoulders.

"Oh? What are you doing out here Soma?" asked Sakuya.

"Huh, it isn't like you to hang out here," commented Lindow.

"Shut up," growled Soma. He tossed the empty can in the garbage before heading back to his room.

***

Aria rested her God Arc on her shoulder and stared down at the dead bodies of a Dyaus Pita and a Prithvi Mata. The few days of peace for the First Unit did not last. It was like the Aragami knew and they fought back with a vengeance.

"Good job guys," she said as she turned to her team.

Alisa and Kota nodded to her. Due to the amount of the missions that were being put out, she had split the team up in half with Soma and Sakuya going with Lindow.

"I can't wait to take a hot shower tonight." Alisa fanned herself with a hand. "It's really muggy today. Aren't you roasting in that Aria?"

Aria looked down at her hoodie and shrugged. "Not really? I'm used to fighting in this…"

"That's our Captain, always keeping her cool!" laughed Kota.

Once the trio returned to the Den they were met with a frenzy of activities. People were running around carrying blankets and other supplies.

"Whoa…what happened here…" murmured Kota.

"Come on, we'll ask Hibari." Aria made her way through the crowd. She noted there were a lack of God Eaters in the den. "Hey Hibari, what's going on?"

Hibari furiously typed away on her computer and listing orders through her headset. Tsubaki was next to her with her signature clipboard

"Oh there you are Aria. Your team will be the only one on standby here in the Den."

"The 'only one'?" asked Alisa.

Tsubaki nodded. Her expression softened as she gazed at Aria. "I heard from Lindow that you are from A-2 in the Outer Ghetto."

"Uh…yes?" Dang, that did not take long at all to spread throughout the Den. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Tsubaki stood straight. "The Anti-Aragami wall around A-2 has been breached. There's a hole in the wall, letting hordes of Aragami in."

Aria could feel her body starting to stiffen at the news and her eyes began to widen. As fast as the feeling came on, she quickly reined in her emotions and shoved them into a corner of herself. This was no time to react in that way.

Alisa and Kota had the emotional reaction she refused to have. "Are the people okay?" asked Alisa. Her hands were pressed against her chest. Her eyes shifted over to Aria and then back to Tsubaki.

"They have been evacuated out of the area," said Tsubaki. "They are going to be living in one of the lower areas of the Den until we can repair the wall."

Kota sighed. "That's good, right Aria? They're probably okay."

Aria smiled and nodded to Kota. However, one thing was still bothering her. "What about the rest of the Outer Ghetto? If there's a hole in it…" Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alisa grab Kota's arm to give him support.

"We have been able to keep the Aragami in the A-2 block for now. While the God Eaters are keeping the Aragami at bay, a temporary Anti-Aragami Wall is being put up to keep them out from the rest of the Ghetto until we can get the Wall fixed. However, we must always have a couple God Eaters in the area to keep it safe. The temporary wall will be able to keep back the smaller Aragami but the stronger ones might be able to break it. Dr. Sakaki isn't a hundred percent sure if that is even true so better safe than sorry."

"But why aren't we out there fighting too?" asked Kota. "I mean, with a team like ours, we'll be able to help a lot!"

"You three are on standby in case something else happens. Remember the last time we had no combat personal in the Den?"

Aria could feel Tsubaki's eyes strike daggers at her. "For the record, I did end up bringing Lindow back because that happened," she put in.

Tsubaki shook her head. "I'm always impressed with how you can joke at times like this. Anyway, you three get some rest." She turned back to Hibari. "Catch me up on everything that has happened so far."

Knowing the conversation was over, the three God Eaters headed up the stairs to the small couches.

Now I know how you must have felt being stuck here all by yourself while everyone was out," sighed Kota. "I don't know how you dealt with it. I just want to go out there and pound all those Aragami into dust."

"For the record I did fight an Aragami," reminded Aria. "Just…not with my own God Arc."

Alisa shook her head and leaned over to grasp Aria's hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Aria smiled. "I'm fine Alisa, really." She pulled her hand away just in case resonance occurred between the two of them. Alisa didn't have to know that Aria's stomach had a dull ache to it. She was a God Eater now. She needed to be ready in case she was needed to fight.

"I envy you sometimes," sighed Kota. "You're always so good at focusing on the mission at hand. If it was E-26…"

The three God Eaters looked up as Tsubaki walked over to them.

"Is something wrong?" asked Aria.

"Do we need to be sent out?" asked Alisa.

Tsubaki shook her head and turned to Aria. "Since you are from A-2, I thought I would ask you first. There is a young man causing trouble down in the refugee hold. A lot of angry yelling and what not."

Aria groaned. "Why am I not surprised?" She got to her feet. "I'll take care of it. It's probably Jun."

"Should we come too?" asked Kota.

Aria shook her head. "No, I got it. You two stay here in case we need to be sent out. Don't wait for me if it does happen. I'll catch the next chopper."

"Thank you Aria," said Tsubaki. "They are on the warehouse floor."

Aria nodded and took the elevator down. She didn't usually come down here. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, she had never been to the residential area of the Den for non-God Eaters. There was really no point to.

The doors opened, and she stepped out. The warehouse was a huge room. Usually there would be boxes and various other things in storage scattered everywhere. It had been cleared out and to hold the refugees. Some had set up tents with the blankets they were given. There were a couple of Den staff handing out supplies in various parts of the room.

It was easy for Aria to spot Jun (plus it probably helped that the elevator area was on an elevated platform from the rest of the warehouse). He was near the edge of the crowd and, of course, yelling at how this was all caused by the God Eaters negligence of the Anti-Aragami Wall.

"Happy reunion to us," murmured Aria as she hurried down the stairs.

Ayame and Jiro were trying to calm him down but to no avail. Aria didn't know if it was a good thing or not that she didn't spot anyone else from their family there. Oh wait, there was Mizuno at the food handout. She had to smile at that sight. It was just like the time in the Outer Ghetto when the group would split up to take care of the day's chores.

Kimi had returned with a pile of blankets. She put them to the side, out of Jun's direct line of sight, and sat down quietly.

"Jun," spoke up Aria. "Please stop."

Jun stopped in mid-tirade and turned his blue eyes to her. It looked like the storm that appeared in them when he was angry did not change from the last time she had seen him.

"Aria!" Ayame sighed in relief.

Jiro nodded to her, but he was smiling as well.

Aria wished she had the same amount of confidence in being able to calm Jun down as they thought she did.

Jun crossed his arms and glared at her. "Oh, look who decided to show up, a _God Eater_. What are you going to do, gut me like you do one of those Aragami?"

"Jun, come on now," Aria said softly. "You need to calm down."

"Calm _down_? _Calm down_? You want me to calm down? Really?" He gestured behind him to Kimi. The younger girl jumped but didn't say anything. "I can't calm down. It's because of you God Eaters that Shin did not make it!"

"Jun…what?"

"Shin got attacked by an Aragami when we were escaping," Jiro explained quietly. "He didn't make it and we had to leave him there."

Aria grabbed her emotions and reined them in fast and shoved them to the side. Shin was…dead? He was only three years younger than Aria and loved playing practical jokes on everyone. And now he was gone?

"Yeah, Shin did not make it because you God Eaters messed up!" snapped Jun. He smiled but it was by no means happy. "What were you doing? Probably lounging around, enjoying your new life here."

"Jun, please stop," whispered Ayame. "Really Aria, he doesn't mean it."

"Be quiet Ayame," snapped Jun. "I sure as hell do mean it. All you God Eaters do is cause trouble for everyone around here!"

"Jun, I know you're angry," Aria began. She kept her voice steady and low. It would do no good to get riled up. She was still trying to process the fact that Shin was gone in the back of her mind. "But you can't get angry like this, out loud." She gestured to the people around them. "Jun, these people are like you, they have been kicked out of their homes. They want some peace and quiet now to recover from the ordeal so-"

"Oh look at you," Jun crossed his arms. "Look at this, Jiro, Ayame, she's acting the same as before. Always looking out for other people but with that stupid tactician look on her face. It's always been hard to tell what you are thinking when you have that face, but I think it's gotten even worse now."

He gestured to her armlet. "Pumped you full of drugs right? Having trouble keeping everything straight in your head? Brainwashed you right?" He lowered his voice to a sadistic whisper. "Are you even human right now?"

***

Soma followed Lindow and Sakuya into the Den. It was always exhausting being with these two when they weren't actively in combat. It was like they just couldn't keep their hands off each other. Out of curiosity he had searched up files about married couples and apparently this was normal behavior. Even more for God Eaters as one did not know if they would survive another day.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" asked Lindow. Alisa and Kota were sitting on the couches. They both seemed slightly antsy.

"Where's Aria?" asked Sakuya.

Soma looked around, but he didn't see the black-haired captain anywhere.

"Well, she went down to where the refugees are," said Alisa. "Apparently one of them was being very loud and rough and Tsubaki wanted her to take care of it."

"She mentioned it was the guy, Jun," put in Kota. "I remember seeing him from when Aria and I were in the area and he seemed very mad when he saw her."

"So you're worried about her," Lindow put in. "Well, we can go down and check, right?"

"But we're on standby in case something happens. Aria told us to stay here," put in Alisa.

"I'll stay up here," offered Sakuya. "The Aragami have mostly been cleared out so now the Defense Squad is handling it by themselves. You guys won't be gone long so I'll call if anything happens." She stretched her arms over her head and cracked a smile. "Plus I could use some time off my feet."

"You're the best Sakuya." Lindow gave her a quick hug and a peck on the lips. "Soma, come on, let's go."

Soma frowned. He did not like how Lindow just lumped him in with everyone else. However, from how Kota had described this Jun, he was a bit worried about Aria. Not like he would admit that out loud. "Alright, I'm coming," he murmured.

The four God Eaters were silent as they took the elevator down to the warehouse floor. The doors opened and the first thing Soma heard was a girl's voice yelling, "Don't say that about her Jun! Aria is Aria!"

"What in the world is going on," murmured Lindow. The four God Eaters walked to the edge of the railing that separated the raised platform from the rest of the warehouse. It was easy to spot Aria near the front as she was the only one with a God Eater armlet.

"This seems more like a family quarrel than anything else," said Lindow. "It might be best for us to stay out of it…"

"Really?" spat a young man, was that Jun? "And yet here she is with no emotion on her face." He leaned in close to Aria's face. "Do you even remember Nee-san? Can you remember how she was when she last saw us?"

"Of course I remember Nee-san," Aria said quietly.

Like every time before, Soma was impressed with how Aria could stay calm in situations like this.

"Really? I doubt it," Jun looked away in disgust.

"No, she does," put in the girl next to Aria. "Look! She's wearing the hoodie that Nee-san gave her!"

"I feel like we should help or do something," said Kota. "This is…kinda painful to watch."

"Maybe we should go," suggested Alisa. “This is a family thing after all.”

Soma had to agree. This was too personal for his taste.

"Oh that's it huh. You want to become like Nee-san? Is that it? Going to disappear in a year or two?" Soma couldn't see Aria's face from his position but Jun didn't seem to like it as he balled his hands into fists. "Stop looking at me with that face. Stop looking at me with pity. We are fine, we are fine without you around."

"Jun…" began Aria.

"Don't you Jun me! I'm sick of it! Always with that look! You always have that same look! Change it for once! Stop it!"

"Jun, you need to calm down," said a young man to Jun's left.

Soma could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He had a feeling that something was going to happen.

"Jun…"

"I said, don't you _Jun_ me!"

Soma saw it in slow motion. Jun lifted his fist. He swung it. Alisa made a choked sound of surprise. He saw Aria stumble back.

He didn't know how he got down there. One second, he was standing at the railing, the next, he was on the main floor. His hand gripped the front of Jun's shirt tightly as he slammed the other young man into the wall. He glared at the s.o.b. with pure hatred. Soma had wanted to kill a few humans over the years but this was the first time he ever felt such a rage to someone that was not directly related to something that had happened to him.

Jun struggled for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to retort something, but he froze after seeing the rage screaming in Soma's eyes.

"Soma, leave him."

Aria.

Soma ignored her. What should he do first? Punching the guy would probably be the best. What afterwards though?

" _Soma_. Put. Him. Down."

He stiffened and glanced back at Aria. Alisa and Kota were on either side of her. She had one hand to her cheek. It looked like the punch had not even bruised her. Of course her oracle cells would make her tougher than the average human.

Other than her hand on her cheek, she stood straight. Her eyes were dark as she locked eyes with him. "Put him down," she ordered. Her captain voice. It was the one she used out on the battlefield. He had never heard her use that voice in the Den.

Soma gritted his teeth but he released Jun and stepped a few steps back. He gave the pitiful human one last cold stare before he headed for the elevator.

***

Well this had become a mess.

Lindow scratched the back of his head with his normal hand as Soma stormed towards the elevator.

"I should get going as well," Aria said quietly. She cracked a small smile at the girl. "See you later Ayame."

The girl nodded and glanced back and forth between Aria and Jun. "Uh yeah, see you later."

Lindow crossed his arms as he watched Alisa and Kota trail after Aria like a couple of ducklings. Both glared at Jun when they were sure Aria wasn't looking. It didn't look like she was paying much attention to either of them at all.

"Word of advice around here," began Lindow.

"One of you is still around?" snapped Jun. He was dusting off the front of his shirt. "Crazy guy he was." He stared at Lindow's arm. "Well maybe he wasn't the only one."

"Jun, that was really uncalled for," spoke the other male.

Lindow crossed his arms. Oh, this guy was a piece of work. "Around here God Eaters are the cream of the crop. We're the ones out there fighting the crazy Aragami to make sure people like you have something to complain about. We all have a pretty thick skin when it comes to barbs against us."

He narrowed his eyes as Jun turned away. "Lieutenant Aria of the First Unit. Captain of the Assault Squad."

"Captain?" whispered the girl. Her eyes widen, and she looked at the other boy and the girl. "Aria is a captain!?"

"So?" snapped Jun. "That's supposed to mean something?"

"Obviously that means nothing to you but for us here it means everything. She is our strongest God Eater and a New-Type to boot. She has excellent resonance ability and a great tactical mind. She was a crucial part to stopping the Devouring Apocalypse as well as bringing back a God Eater that had lost his way."

"Tsk, there is no point to this."

Lindow flexed his inhuman hand. "Basically, she is the one person around here that you do not want to mess with. You will make enemies of every single God Eater stationed here. And if you lay a hand on her again, don't expect her to be able to save you. Unlike Soma I will disregard her order and kill you myself."

Leaving the boy with the words, Lindow headed for the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

Soma stared up at his ceiling from his bed. What the hell was he doing? He looked at his hand. Despite it being an hour since the incident happened he was still pissed off at that Jun guy. However, now that he was thinking about it, she could have blocked the punch. He didn't know the exact way oracle cells affected normal humans, but she should have been able to block him without any trouble. Why didn't she?

"Why the hell does this matter?" he groaned. He rested his arm over his eyes. It was so much better being a loner. He never had thoughts like this before. Hell, he never _cared_ about how his other teammates were feeling before she came around.

He heard noises from the hallway. Probably Alisa and Kota. He heard them going into Aria's room earlier. For a moment he thought of just letting them pass but at the last moment he hopped out of bed and opened his door.

Alisa and Kota looked back at him in surprise.

"Gah, what's up Soma?" asked Kota.

Soma walked down to the hall to wait for the elevator with them. Since Aria's room was on the other end, she would be unable to accidentally overhear the conversation.

"How…"He stared at the ground. Saying something like this was so unlike him. "How is she?"

Alisa and Kota exchanged glances. "We're not sure," said Alisa. "She seemed a little dazed until we got to her room."

"It was weird. It was like a switch turned on and she started talking to us like normal. We hung out and stuff but…" Kota shook his head. "It was odd…"

"Yes, I have to agree with Kota, it was odd." Alisa said. "I wanted to perform a resonance with her to get an understanding of her emotions but…" Alisa stared down at her hand and sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm not as good at it like she is. I wasn't able to get anything out of it."

The elevator doors silently slid open.

"You should try," suggested Kota. "Maybe you'll be able to figure it out."

Soma crossed his arms. "I doubt it, but I will attempt it."

"Good luck," said Alisa.

As the elevator door closed, Soma turned and headed for her room. He stood outside her door and lifted his hand to knock and then dropped it. What the hell was he doing? He was actually doing something Kota said. How in the world did it come to this? He did not like the mixed emotions within him. "Maybe it is better to be a loner…"he murmured.

However, he was already here. And right now, in front of her door, he could not get the damned picture of her holding her cheek with her captain-face out of his head. "Damn it," he grumbled as he lifted his hand and knocked on the door. "It's me."

The door slid open. "Hey Soma," said Aria from the couch. There were some opened drinks on the table along with some paperwork. "What's up?" she asked as she began clearing the paperwork. "Tsubaki sent me the files on what was going on in A-2. I'm trying to figure out a good schedule to patrol the area."

"Isn't that Tsubaki's job?" Soma leaned against the frame of her doorway. He had never visited her room before. There was no point to. He didn't have "movie nights" with her like Kota and Alisa did or talked about stuff like Lindow and Sakuya. Apparently even members of the Defense Squad came by every now and then too.

It wasn’t like he never held a conversation with her though. They talked in the cafeteria and other parts of the Den. She had walked into his room a few times, but she was out of there as quickly as she had come in.

Aria shrugged. "Yeah maybe. But she wants my second opinion on the matter." She twirled a pen with her fingers. "Although the biggest problem is fixing the wall itself. Dr. Sakaki thinks it would be best to make the piece here in the Den and then just shove it in there once it is ready. Of course, keeping the area safe until then is the hard part…"

Soma stared at her. No wonder Kota and Alisa had seemed a bit freaked out. She really was acting like everything was normal.

"Soma…is something wrong? You're staring at me pretty intensely there…"

Soma shifted his attention to her eyes. They were a very odd magenta color he realized. Sometimes they seemed more pink, other times more purple. "Why didn't you block it?"

Her eyes shifted down to the papers. "Jun just wanted to vent out his anger."

What the hell? Soma's hands tightened into fists. "What the hell does _that_ mean?"

Aria shrugged. "We sparred a lot. It helped both of us keep sharp since we had to take care of everyone else. Whenever we disagreed, we would usually go out back and beat the crap out of each other." She laughed. She touched her cheek. "Although it is a bit shocking that it didn't hurt as much it used to. Fighting Aragami is like a whole different story."

This wasn't the first time he wanted to strangle her. "You know you can trust us right?" he snapped. He remembered how she looked after she had seen the disk with his past on it. She had approached him, tentatively, but with no pity. She had accepted him for who he was with no questions asked. Why the hell did it take until now for him to realize he truly knew nothing about her?

She tilted her head slightly. "That's a silly question Soma. Of course I trust you guys."

  1. He knew she was lying through her teeth. Did she truly trust them? She obviously trusted them on the battlefield that was for sure. Why did it piss him off so much that she was not opening to him?



"But still, I'm sorry about Jun. He was saying stuff about God Eaters out of line there," she said quietly. "You probably won't believe me but he's a good guy. He's just really stressed right now."

"Stressed? That was stressed?"

"I know, it's weird." She wrapped her finger against the tie of the hoodie. "He was never okay with God Eaters after Nee-san disappeared and then I ended up becoming one too." She shrugged.

How the hell was she talking about this so calmly? "Aria, I'm being serous about what I said before. If you want to talk to any of us, I'm sure anyone here will listen to you."

Again with the head tilt. "Thank you Soma but…"

"I know, I know. I'm leaving now," he ended gruffly before he left her room and headed for his own. For once he wished he was like Lindow and Sakuya and kept beer in his room. He felt like he needed a drink right now.

***

Aria let her smile slip away as the door shut behind Soma. She leaned her head against the back of the couch and pressed her hands against her eyes. "Damn it, damn it damn it," she murmured. Keeping to together for that hour Kota and Alisa was here was difficult. A part of her wanted to spill out that she wasn't fine, the fact that Jun had yelled at her had really hurt. The words hurt way more than the punch did.

She was happy with the two had ended up leaving. However, then Soma had to show up soon after they had left. She could tell her words were agitating him. He had probably returned to his room in a huff knowing him. She was not worried though. Things would be fine tomorrow. He was not the type to let emotions cloud his judgment on a mission.

"Damn it Nee-san how did you do this?" She unzipped the hoodie and tossed it on the couch before she collapsed on her bed. "Did you feel like you were breaking apart inside sometimes when everyone kept asking if you were alright, but you were still smiling?"

Of course, the hoodie didn't answer her. She shut her eyes and remembered the day Nee-san gave it to her.

***

Aria had been eleven at the time. Jun had already put himself at the head of the household with Aria as his second. The two were a great team in keeping the family together without Nee-san around. They both knew Nee-san had enough to worry about with her God Eater duties. Since they were the oldest, they had to step up and becoming adults now.

Touma raced into the house. "Nee-san is back! Nee-san is visiting!" The seven-year old's eyes were bright as he hopped up and down.

Immediately the younger kids scrambled to their feet and ran outside to welcome Nee-san. Only Jun and Aria were left in the house.

"You think Nee-san feels better this time?" Jun asked quietly.

Aria remembered the last time Nee-san visited. Her eyes had seemed off. They had seemed haunted by something Aria could not see. "She's probably fine. She was just tired last time."

Jun nodded. "You're probably right Aria, you're usually smart about stuff like this."

"Of course I am," Aria puffed out her chest proudly. She got to her feet. "Nee-san probably can't move with all of the kids under feet. I'll help her get in here."

"I'll get her favorite tea ready," said Jun.

Aria's guess was right. Nee-san was only a few feet from the house but the kids were all around her, all asking questions about how she was doing and asking about her time as a God Eater. Aria clapped her hands a few times. "Come on guys, give Nee-san a break. It probably took her a while to get here, don't bombard her with your questions right away. Why don't all of you return to your chores? Nee-san will be here for a while."

Echoes of 'okays' rang up from the children.

"Thanks Aria," said Nee-san.

"No problem," laughed Aria. She ran over to Nee-san's side and hugged the older woman. She frowned. "Nee-san, are you eating? You seem skinnier than when you lived here with us."

"Oh, I'm fine Aria, don't worry about me."

Aria frowned as she stared up into Nee-san's eyes. The haunted look was still there and it looked even worse than before. Maybe she was really stressed out? Aria's eyes flickered to the red and silver armlet on Nee-san's right arm. "Nee-san, I'll help you out one day!"

"Uh what?"

"I'll become a God Eater as well and help you out Nee-san! We can fight together!"

Nee-san chuckled and ruffled Aria's hair. "That's sweet of you but that won't be necessary."

Aria's expression fell. Did she really think Aria would be no good at being a God Eater? Sure it seemed like a scary job but she felt like she could do it!

Nee-san's expression softened. "Aria, I did not mean it like that. You…you would be a good God Eater." She nodded. "Yes, I can see that." She unzipped her hoodie and took it off. "Here, a gift from me for the future God Eater."

Aria's eyes widen to the point of saucers. Nee-san was giving Aria her hoodie? That was one of the first things Nee-san bought with her paycheck. "Nee-san I can't…"

"You will probably put this to better use than me." She shoved the hoodie into Aria's hands. "It's yours now. But be careful, it comes with the responsibility of having to care for your siblings." Nee-san winked.

"I already do that!" Aria clutched the hoodie against her chest. She would take good care of this hoodie and do her best for her siblings! "Oh, Jun is making your favorite tea inside." She grasped Nee-san's hand in her own. It was colder than usual but Aria was just too excited to have Nee-san around again to care. "Come on, come on!"

Nee-san laughed but it didn't have the same 'omph' like it used to. "Alright, alright! I'm coming Aria!"

***

True to her word, she had cared for that hoodie. At first, after becoming a God Eater, she had worn the Fenrir uniform. However, after her promotion to Captain of the First Unit she felt like she needed any luck she could get. So, she pulled out Nee-san's hoodie from the small pack of things she had brought with her from A-2. She took the hoodie to Licca who embedded it with oracle cells so it could also be worn in battle.

"And here we are today," she said quietly. She bit her lip as she thought about Shin. "I wasn't able to protect my siblings Nee-san," she whispered. "But I have protected my comrades…that has to count for something…right?"

***

The next day, Aria was assigned to a patrol of A-2 along with Fredrico and Annette. The damage done in the area was great. It surprised Aria that the God Eaters were able to keep the Aragami contained in this one area without them spreading out.

"It was a pretty bad fight," admitted Fredrico when Aria asked about it. "Annette and I were to stick with another God Eater at all times."

"I wasn't sure if we were going to make it a few times," sighed Annette. Like always, due to the weight of her hammer she was lagging a few steps behind Fredrico and Aria. "But everyone was fighting with all the strength they could muster. There was no way we could back down."

Aria nodded. She did not want to imagine how bad yesterday's fight was. And yet, here were Fredrico and Annette to help her out with the patrol.

"At least we were able to get a good night's rest," spoke up Fredrico. "Kanon, Gina and Shun were here all night patrolling the area."

"Yeah, that was really rough on them." replied Aria. When the three New-Types had arrived, the three Old-Types had taken the same chopper to return to the Den. All three of them looked worn out to the point they looked like they were going to fall asleep on their feet.

The three New-Types made it to the Anti-Aragami Wall and for the first time Aria got a good look of the hole in the Wall. It was bigger than Aria thought it would be, larger than a Vajra. Thankfully an Ouroboros wouldn't be able to fit in the hole or even a Quadriga.

"I really hope Dr. Sakaki pushes them to get the part done soon," said Annette. "I don't know how long we can do stuff like this…"

"He probably will just threaten them to drink First Love Juice if they don't hurry," replied Aria. Poor Licca.

Aria went closer to the hole and stared at the edges. It looked like there were clean cuts along the edges, like something from a blade. What had caused this? It didn't look like anyone had any idea either. It couldn't have been an Aragami so…what else could it be?

Aria could not ponder on it any longer as she heard a growl come from beyond the Wall. Ogretails were approaching. She shifted her sword into gun form. "Fredrico, Annette, looks like we have company."

***

"So you're with me and Kota for tonight's patrol," informed Lindow as he plopped down next to Soma at the cafeteria table. "I would take a nap before we leave, it's going to be a long night."

"We're going to have a guy's night out then?" asked Kota from across the table.

"Ugh, I don't want to even know what you will be talking about," said Alisa. "How about we have a girls’ night tonight?" she asked Sakuya. "Aria should be back by then too."

"Will she even be up for it?" asked Sakuya. "She is going to be patrolling all day."

"She will be okay with it," spoke up Soma. "She isn't the type to say no."

Alisa frowned and looked down at her lunch.

It was a really weird setup Soma had to admit. Usually they did not gather here unless it was dinnertime. And yet here they all were now.

"Was she alright last night?" asked Sakuya. "I heard from Lindow what happened."

Alisa and Kota exchanged glances and then turned to Soma.

"I got nothing either," growled Soma. Did he really expect him to perform a miracle when they couldn't do it?

"She was the same as always," said Kota. "Hey, isn't that the girl from yesterday?"

Soma followed Kota's pointed finger to a girl standing near the elevator. It was the same girl from yesterday, the one that was telling that s.o.b. Jun to calm down. She seemed to be looking for something.

"Is she even allowed on this floor?" wondered Alisa.

The girl's eyes settled on the First Unit table and her eyes lit up.

"Whoa guys, I think she was looking for us!"

Lindow reached across the table and lightly whacked Kota's head. "Be nice."

Sakuya sipped her drink slowly but she was keeping an eye on her husband.

"Uh…hello," she said softly when she was close enough to talk.

"Hey," replied Kota lightly.

Soma tugged his hood. What in the world did she want? "Aria isn't here," he said gruffly.

"Oh, I know," she said quickly. "I went up to the top floor and asked the lady behind the counter and she said Aria was out patrolling A-2. I wanted to talk to you guys as you are members of her Unit…is that right?" She looked at Lindow for confirmation.

Lindow crossed his arms and nodded. "I'm technically not a member but you are correct about everyone else. Huh, unlike that brother of yours, you seemed to listen."

Soma glanced at Lindow. What was he talking about? When did he talk to this girl? When everyone else left?

She smiled and then focused on the group. "Umm, my name is Ayame. I'm one of Aria's younger sisters if you don't remember." She looked down at the ground. "Although…it is probably hard for you guys to forget…"

"What happened wasn't your fault Ayame," said Alisa gently.

"But I'm still sorry for how Jun reacted." Ayame bowed low. "I am very sorry for Jun's actions. He is under a lot of stress right now and his dislike of God Eaters is making everything worse."

Soma crossed his arms. He had a sense of déjà vu from his conversation with Aria. Was that the only way they could justify their brother's actions?

"However that still does not excuse his actions," Ayame said. "Jiro and I are trying to keep him out of trouble so he won't cause problems anymore. I'm still really sorry for what happened."

"Really, it's alright Ayame." Sakuya gave the girl a warm smile. "We are sure you are trying your best."

This conversation was seriously too sappy for Soma's taste. He was about to stand to head back to his room when Ayame said, "I…I am also grateful to you guys for taking care of Aria. I know she can be a bit difficult sometimes."

"Difficult might not be the best way to put it," murmured Lindow.

Soma could tell everyone was thinking of the various times she had ran out on her own and taken matters in her own hands.

"Yeah, Aria is a bit difficult like that," Ayame giggled. Her smile slipped away. "Aria had to grow up quickly after Nee-san stopped visiting. Jun was crying all of the time and all."

I cannot picture that at all," put in Kota.

"So Aria kind of had to become in charge of the group. She's really good at tactical stuff and planning and whatnot but she's really bad at revealing her negative emotions to others. Sadness is the worst. I don't think I remember her even crying or ever appearing sad since then."

"Should you really be telling us this?" asked Lindow.

Ayame shrugged. "Probably not but I saw how you two looked when you were taking Aria away yesterday." Her attention was focused on Kota and Alisa. "I can probably guess how she acted after the initial shock wore off. Happy right? Like everything was fine? That's just her way of handling with things. So, that's why I'm apologizing for her. I'm apologizing for us kids who forced her to grow up faster than she should have."

Soma thought back to the conversation from last night. So that was it? She was just not used to telling others how she felt? That just made that stupid smile of hers seem worse. How did she feel inside after that happened?

"But what can we do?" asked Alisa. "I don't think she's just going to open up and tell us how she feels…"

"I saw we give her time and just be there," replied Sakuya. "I'm sure she will open to us in time. It might just take longer for her than the average person."

Soma did not know if that would be the case. If she was able to hide her emotions from her siblings for years how were they supposed to get through to her?

"Hey," spoke up Kota. "Not to get off topic but since you are Aria's sibling…you have to have embarrassing stories about her right? Like how she was like as a kid?"

Ayame blinked slowly and nodded. "Uh yes. I do remember a couple of things."

Lindow kicked one of the chairs back. "Well then take a seat Ayame, I think we would be very interested in hearing them."

***

Aria collapsed on her bed. Her feet were aching after trekking around A-2 for hours. She was used to long missions and whatnot but this was a whole different level for her. At least most of it was spent near the huge hole in the Wall, fighting off the Aragami that were trying to come in. When Lindow, Kota and Soma arrived to take over, Aria was kind of weirded out by the way Lindow and Kota were smiling at her. Soma also wouldn't look her in the eye.

She really wanted to ask them about it but at the same time she felt like it would be opening a can of worms so she left it…for now.

"It's probably nothing," she murmured. Although when she had gotten back Alisa and Sakuya seemed really happy to see her. Like Lindow and Kota they had been grinning as well. Apparently, they were going to have a girls night but after seeing how exhausted Aria looked they decided it would be best to postpone it for another time.

She pressed her head against her pillow and immediately fell asleep. She didn't know how long she was asleep when she heard a knocking on her door. Groaning, she rolled over to check the time. Four in the morning?

"I'm sorry to wake you," Tsubaki's muffled voice came through the door.

Aria was awake in an instant. Tsubaki had never visited her in the middle of the night before. She scrambled to her feet and opened her door. "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"

Despite it being the middle of the night Tsubaki looked as prim and proper as she always did. No, that was not accurate. There were dark circles under her eyes. The God Eaters had a difficult job but she had one as well. She had to coordinate everyone.

Tsubaki crossed her arms. "I'm not usually the type to wake a God Eater that came back from the field a couple hours ago but since this is directly related to you I thought it would be best for you to be informed as soon as possible."

Aria narrowed her eyes. What was going on?

"That boy, the brother of yours has gone missing."

Aria's eyes widen. Jun was missing?

"Usually we would not focus our attention on this but since he is your brother and he doesn't seem to like God Eaters that much I thought it would be best to inform you. He's been missing for almost twenty-four hours now. Those other siblings of yours thought he was sulking somewhere to cool off but when he didn't return the girl, Ayame, told Hibari, who, after a scan of the building cameras told me that he was not in the Den. Like I said, normally I would not wake you up for something involving a regular human but…"

"He is my brother despite everything," sighed Aria. Seriously Jun. Did he really have to do something stupid at a time like this?

Tsubaki smiled. "Good. I thought I was going to need to give you the he's-your-family speech but it looks like I do not have to do that."

Aria grinned and nodded. "Don't worry, I won't let him punch me this time." She thought it over for a moment. "Can you spare a chopper? I might have an idea of where he had gone."

Tsubaki nodded. "I'll count this as me doing a favor for you."

"I'll repay you back at some point." Aria grabbed her hoodie from the couch and threw it on. Despite only having a few hours of sleep she was ready to go. Maybe it was how deep she slept or how the oracle cells have affected her body. Either way, she would be fine and hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

The chopper trip was very short, only taking her to Tranquil Temple. "I owe you one!" she told the driver.

He gave her a thumbs up and wished her good luck as she jumped out and landed in the soft snow.

"Aria? Can you hear me?" came Tsubaki's voice from the transmitter.

"Yeah," said Aria.

"There's a herd of Vajratails north of your location."

"Got it." Aria shifted her grip on her God Arc before she took off running. She could hear the Vajratails before she saw them and she slowed to a stop and peered around the corner of one of the abandoned houses. Like she thought, there was Jun, at the base of the main temple. He gripped some white flowers tightly in his hand. His blue eyes darted around nervously at the pack of Vajratails that were slowly closing in on him.

She thought of firing her gun to attract their attention but that would not mean all the Vajratails would focus on her. Only a couple might with the smarter ones going after the easier prey. No, her best bet would be to jump in the middle of the fray.

"And this is where everyone else would yell at me if they were here." Aria rolled her eyes. It was just some Vajratails. Nothing too major. She backed up a few steps, crouched and jumped. Her hand caught the edge of the roof of the nearest house and she hoisted herself onto it. The roof creaked under her weight but it held. She darted forward and jumped off the other edge with all her strength as a God Eater.

"Hiyaaaaa!" she yelled as her sword entered transformed a gaping mouth and she devoured the Vajratail closest to her. "Move closer to the inside of the temple!" she ordered Jun before she began swinging.

The beasts were everywhere. She had fought hordes of these guys before but this was different. This group of Vajratails were riled up at the chance of being able to eat human prey. They were more vicious than usual. As soon as she took one down another took its place. She did not stop swinging though. There was no chance to rest. She could not retreat to rest. They would just focus on Jun. All she could do was fight. At the moment, that was a-okay with her.

After what seemed like forever, her blade sliced through the last Vajratail. She sucked in a few deep breaths as she stared at the carnage around her. The ones that had been killed in the beginning of the fight were already beginning to disintegrate. Her face and hands felt sticky from the blood. Her clothes, being embedded with oracle cells meant the blood did not stick to it (which made cleaning them so much easier).

Jun was staring at her wide-eyed from the top of the temple steps. "I guessed you wanted to get those for Hana." Aria gestured to the flowers in Jun's hands. "She was always nervous when change happens. You wanted to brew her some tea like I used to. I did teach Ayame how to do it you know. She could have helped."

"We didn't bring any of the herbs with us," Jun replied quietly. "We had to leave them all behind. I heard from some of the workers that this area grew this flower so I went to get some." He stared at the carnage around Aria. "I was not expecting there to be Aragami everywhere…"

"Yeah, once you are no longer behind the Anti-Aragami Wall they tend to be everywhere." Aria hoisted up her sword and rested it on her shoulder. "We do clear them out but since the main focus right now is the hole in A-2, unless it is a high ranked Aragami we are going to leave them alone." She looked around at the bodies around her. "Although it might be a good thing I came out here. There were way more Vajratails gathered here than what would usually be allowed…"

"Aria…why did you come save me?" He looked down at his feet. "I…"

Aria walked up the steps. "You're my brother. Of course, the big sister needs to come save her little brother."

"Hey, wait a minute, I thought we all agreed that I'm the older one."

"Not like we know that for sure." She was right next to Jun now. She tightened her hand into a fist and without warning, punched him in the face. She controlled the amount of force behind it as she did not know how much damage a full-strength punch would do to a human but it would still hurt. "Payback for before."

Jun grinned at her as he rubbed his cheek. "No fair. You do know this is totally going to leave a mark right?" He tested his jaw. "I really thought you broke it for a moment."

"I was trying to control the force behind it." Dang, maybe she had swung too hard.

He sighed. "Damn it, you were holding back? Jeez, we can't spar anymore can we? You will just curb stomp me every time."

Aria shrugged. "Yeah, sorry, side effect of oracle cells. Tends to make you a less squishy human."

Jun's expression fell. "But…you are feeling alright?"

Realizing where he was going with this she nodded. "Yeah, I feel fine though. I'm not tired or anything. Well I am the Captain of the First Unit so that tends to make me tired and all but I don't feel like Nee-san probably did…"

"You look much better than she did…"

"I had been thinking of trying to find her file, the Branch has a record of all God Eaters that used to work there. I could have found her if I looked but…"

Jun nodded. "Ignorance might be bliss in this situation right? Probably better for the kids too. They all think she's on a long vacation."

Aria nodded. "Yeah, that might be for the best." She coughed. "Anyway, shall we head back? I would like to catch a couple more hours of sleep."

He winced. "Yeah sure let's-" His eyes widen. He was looking at a spot behind Aria.

Before he could call out a warning, Aria turned her head slightly in the direction of the danger. She saw something sharp coming towards her. With her free hand she pushed Jun out of the way and then side stepped to avoid the attack herself. However she underestimated the reach as she felt something slice through her leg.

She gritted her teeth against pain as she whirled to face what it was. A Borg Camlann? How did she not sense it coming though? She froze as she stared at the thing that attacked her. That was no Aragami. It was someone, a human in a cloak that covered the person from head to toe. What drew her eye was the huge blue-black sword in the human's hand. A buster blade God Arc.

"What the hell are you doing?" snapped Aria. She thought of switching her sword to gun mode but she was still in range of the figure's God Arc. It might be better for her to have access to her shield. She didn't want to move in case the God Eater went after Jun. "Who are you? Which Branch are you from!?"

The mysterious God Eater did not answer. Instead he lifted his sword high in the air. Aria was barely able to put up her shield in time. She gritted her teeth as the weight of the blade pressed down on her. Her injured leg protested, and she was aware of the blood trickling down her leg.

"Jun! Get out of here!" she ordered.

"There is no way in hell I'm leaving you here with Crazy."

"As a God Eater I'm saying you need to go." The figure lifted his arc to swing at her again. Aria switched her blade to gun mode and shot a bullet at the figure. The bullet hit the buster blade, making the God Eater back up a few steps.

Aria pointed her gun at the God Eater. "I will not miss at this range," she said coldly.

For a moment she though the God Eater was going to attempt to attack again but instead the God Eater backed up a few steps before running.

"That's right," snapped Jun. "You run, you coward!"

"Jun, please don't provoke him." Aria bent down and rolled up her pant leg to check the damage to her leg. She heard Jun hiss. She had to agree. It was worse than she thought it was. It hurt like hell too. "Don't worry, this'll heal up pretty fast…" She trailed off when she remembered that she had not brought any recovery pills to speed up her oracle cells. "Okay, I lied. This is going to heal slowly until we get back to the Den and then it will heal quickly."

"Shouldn't we do something about it?" Jun asked nervously. "That's a huge gouge out of your leg!"

"That's why I'm happy that God Eater ran away." Aria sat down and grabbed some of the fallen snow and rubbed it against the wound. She winced at the touch of the cold snow. "I'm usually pretty good in a fight but against a buster blade God Arc with an injured leg? Even with being able to use a gun as well as a blade, it was not good odds."

"Here." Jun pulled his pocketknife out of his pocket and handed it to her.

She took it with a silent thanks and used it to cut the fabric of her pants to use it for a makeshift bandage.

"But you have no idea who that was?"

Aria shook her head. "Nope. I didn't recognize the sword either. It's not a God Eater from the Far East Branch, and that's barring the fact that a God Eater attacked us. I swear that does not happen often."

"Somehow I can believe that one." Jun shook his head. "Are you sure you're okay though?" He held out a hand.

"Fine, fine, it's just a scratch." She took his hand and got to her feet. She tested her weight on the leg. It hurt like hell but it was bearable. "I'll call the chopper. We need to head back. I need to inform the others about this."

***

Jun followed Aria into the Den. Even though she had a piece of her leg torn out she insisted on walking by herself. It was nice to see that her tenacity had not changed. Although was it good or bad in this situation, he could not tell.

"There you are. I thought we were going to need to send a search party to go after you." A woman wearing very revealing clothing approached them. He noticed Aria straightened slightly.

"Oh come on Tsubaki, you know me. Nothing can keep me away from this Den for long."

"I know, that's why we need to beg you to use your vacation days."

"Well, well, what's going on here?"

Jun turned and stiffened. It was the man with the weird red arm. Behind him were two guys. One was the guy that comforted Aria when Jun had punched her (which he sorely regretted right now) while the other was the guy that had slammed Jun against the wall for it.

The guy's eyes locked on Jun and his glare intensified.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble," Jun said quietly. He could still picture Aria fighting off those Vajratail. She had looked like a warrior from a fairytale as she fought. He knew she would have retreated to recoup her strength instead of fighting all those monsters at once. She hadn't though. It was because she knew they would go after him instead. And there was the whole incident with that weird God Eater.

"Well, well, looks like someone has seen the error of his ways," said the red-armed man.

"That's great Aria, you two made up!" The orange haired guy grinned.

"Just took fighting a bunch of Vajratails but hey, that's my style right?" Aria replied with a wide grin.

"Oh man, did she go all demon of the battlefield on them?" asked orange-haired.

A demon? Jun thought about it for a moment. "I guess it looked kind of demoninc."

"Oh no, don't you start using that nickname too," groaned Aria. "It's bad enough hearing it from these guys!"

The hooded guy took a few steps towards Aria. "You're bleeding."

Aria looked down at her leg. "Oh man, I guess I opened it again."

"Holy crap," cried orange hair. "Aria, what happened!?"

The hooded one's attention focused back on Jun. "What the hell did you do?" he snapped.

Jun blinked. The venom in this guy's voice was intense! "I…"

"It wasn't Jun," Aria said quickly. She turned to Tsubaki. "That was actually what I was going to tell you. When I was out there I got attacked by a God Eater."

"A God Eater?" Tsubaki repeated.

She nodded. "A buster blade user. Old-Type. Blue-black blade. I didn't recognize it so it is probably an old model that isn't in use anymore. But yeah, the God Eater attacked us. Whoever it was, was wearing a cloak so I don't have exact features but height wise…" She turned to her teammates. "I would say close to Soma's height."

So, the name of the hooded guy was Soma. Jun felt so out of place as Aria continued to describe the person to the best of her ability. How did she notice all of this in such a short period of time?

"I will look into this," spoke Tsubaki. "I'll also send out a message to other God Eaters to keep a lookout. A God Eater attacking others is troubling. It's even odder than the God Eater appeared human as well. Lindow, I think you should get to bed, Kota, Soma, you two as well. You were on patrol all night."

"Yeah, I'm all set to hit the hay," yawned Lindow.

Jun noticed the similarities between Lindow and Tsubaki. Were they related?

"Aria, you should get to the sick bay and get that leg looked at."

"Going there now," replied Aria.

"Whoa, hang on a moment," said Lindow quickly. He gestured to Soma. "Hey, you still have some energy right?"

"Uh yeah?"

"Great, why don't you carry our Captain down to the sick bay?"

Soma's eyes widen. "What the hell?" he snapped.

"I'm fine Lindow," Aria protested. "I can make it."

"You're leaving a lot of blood on the floor," Kota pointed out. He put his hands on his hips. "I say you do it. Right Soma? You're willing?"

Soma tugged the top of his hood. "Sure…"he murmured. "I'll do it."

"Now let's not make this a repeat of Aegis Island." Lindow patted Aria's shoulder as he passed her. "Just take up the offer."

Kota yawned and followed Lindow to the elevator.

Soma sighed and bent down. "Here, get on."

Jun did not know why but he could feel his big brother instinct surging up within him as he watched as Aria sighed before she got on his back. Soma stood, adjusting to her weight before he silently began carrying her towards the elevator.

"I'll see you later, okay Jun?" she called back to him.

Jun nodded. "Uh okay." He wanted to get down to the refugee floor when he felt a tugging on the back of his shirt. He looked back to see Tsubaki looking down at him with a very, very scary look on her face.

"Now, don't expect for me to just let you walk away from here scotch free. You are the reason why the best God Eater in this Branch is currently injured and why she was sent out at daybreak without much rest. I can't let you go without giving you some sort of punishment."

Jun gulped. This did not look good. Not at all.

***

Aria slid off Soma's back and onto one of the beds in the Sick Bay. "I'm sorry for this Soma. You really didn't need to carry me all the way here." She wondered if Lindow had some idea of her feelings for Soma. Could that be why he was so insistent of situations such as this? No way, she was really good at keeping her emotions to herself, that was not it at all.

"Don't worry, I don't mind." Soma looked away and tugged on his hood. "You're uh, pretty light."

"Uh, thank you I think?" laughed Aria. She hissed in pain as the doctor unwrapped her makeshift bandage.

"Damn," he whistled. "I never expected to see this kind of injury on you."

"You and me both," replied Aria with a small grin. She saw Soma staring at the injury wide eyed. "It isn't as bad as it looks…right Doctor?"

He nodded. "Yes, it should heal without any problems. I don't even think it will scar." He readied a syringe. "First we'll activate your oracle cells and then begin cleaning the wound. That should help stop the bleeding."

"Fine by me," replied Aria as she held out her arm. "Shouldn't you be going to bed Soma? You were up all night-Ack, is that what I think it is? I'm so sorry Soma, I think I got blood on your coat."

Soma looked down at where she was pointing. "Oh, looks like you did."

"I don't think our clothes were made for getting human blood off it. Sorry but you might want to soak that right away." She would have totally gotten up to do it but the doctor had already begun cleaning her leg.

"Don't worry, it's fine, I'll take care of it," he replied. "But you…"

She lifted her hand. "Please don't give me a don't-be-reckless speech right now."

"I was going to say for you to be more careful. I don't think any of us could predict getting attacked by a God Eater…well one that wasn't like how Lindow was."

Aria stared at Soma. "Wait…did you try to make a joke there?"

Soma looked away, confirming her suspicion. She giggled. "Good attempt. Just work on the delivery next time."

"Shut up."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Before you go, I saw Kota and Lindow grinning at me earlier along with Alisa and Sakuya. What was up with that?"

"Your sister, Ayame came to visit us in the cafeteria," he replied.

"Ayame did? For what?"

"She wanted to apologize for Jun. She also told us some stories about you."

"Stories?"

"Like the incident with the cat."

"She what!? Gah!" Aria covered her face in her hands. "My captain image is ruined now! Why did she tell you guys that!?"

"Aria, it's not good to get too riled up when you are healing," reminded the doctor.

Soma shrugged. "That one didn't seem as bad as the one with Hana and the tree."

Aria groaned and fell back on the bed. "You can go now Soma. Let me sit here and cry in woe as my leadership is taken away by bad decisions."

"You are getting as dramatic as Kota." Soma rolled his eyes. Softly he added. "There's no way we would abandon you for that."

"Sure, sure." Aria wiped a fake tear from her eye. "I will just sit here and cry about it."

"I know you would not cry over it," he added before slipping out of the Sick Bay.

Aria stared at door, her brow furrowed. The way he said it bothered her but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why.

 


	3. Chapter 3

"You seem really happy." Alisa pointed out.

Aria sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Is it really that obvious?" It had been a couple of days since she had rescued Jun. Since then, she had been spending all her free time down to the refugee area to catch up on all the things she had missed since becoming a God Eater.

Alisa shook her head. "It's not a bad thing. I'm happy for you."

Why did it seem like everyone had been saying that for the past couple of days? Aria had asked Ayame what she had told everyone since it seemed like it wasn't just stories of the past but Ayame had denied saying anything else.

The two girls turned the corner and came upon the huge hole in the Anti-Aragami Wall. Thankfully it seemed like the Aragami attacks in the area had reduced somewhat. It didn't make much sense though as the hole was still here but Aria wasn't complaining. It made patrolling so much easier.

"Hey, I have a weird theory," spoke up Alisa.

"Go ahead." Aria peered out of the hole but it didn't look like any Aragami were hanging out behind the Wall either.

"What if that God Eater you saw was the cause of the Aragami decrease? There haven't been much Aragami in this area since then..."

Aria nodded. "I'm thinking that as well. It is very weird that the patrols have been going so smoothly recently. However, it is still very odd that no one else has actually seen this mysterious God Eater." She looked down at her leg. "Or maybe it is for the better that no one has seen this God Eater…"

"At least we know whoever it is, is still human?" put in Alisa. "Otherwise they would not be using a God Arc."

"True." Aria replied. "Tsubaki told me this morning that she is going to be able to one hundred percent confirm everything by tomorrow. We'll just have to wait until then." She looked up to see a chopper flying overhead. "I think our shift's over. Let's get back Alisa."

"Finally," Alisa sighed. "It's always so dusty here that I feel like I need to take a long shower when I get back…" She gulped. "No offense or anything Aria! I'm sure this was a wonderful place to live before."

Aria laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not offended, it is pretty dusty here."

The girls reached the chopper and bid hello to Brendan and Kanon. With the area being quiet only two God Eaters were being assigned to patrol at one time. After they returned to the Den, the girls split up with Alisa going to take a shower and Aria went down to the warehouse floor.

"Aria's here!" cried Kyo. The eight-year-old was a new member of the family, being adopted in when his parents had been killed during the Aragami raid.

"Kids, don't crowd around her!" called Ayame.

Aria waded through the children and sat down next to Ayame. Mizuno was handing out the rations for the day to the children. Well, more or less, she was shoving it into their hands as many were focused on Aria.

"Food-wise, you guys are okay?" asked Aria.

Ayame nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. A couple of the other people here are getting a bit ansty for staying here for so long but Jun has been working hard to help calm them down."

"It's quite shocking," said Jiro. "I never expected him to change his tune so fast."

Aria thought back to how he looked when she had defeated all those Vajratails. Pure shock. "I think he finally really understood how dangerous this job was," she replied quietly.

"Aria? Can you tell us another story?" asked Kimi.

"Tell us the one when you fought that Nova thing…"

"It's called Arda Nova stupid!"

"I'm not stupid…"

"Don't make Kentaro cry!"

Aria laughed and clapped her hands a few times to draw their attention to her. "Alright, alright, I'll tell the story of how we defeated Arda Nova."

After four and a half stories later, Jun had saved her from telling another by sending the children off to bed with the promise that Aria would come by tomorrow to tell another.

"Thanks Jun," Aria coughed slightly. Her voice had become a bit hoarse from telling so many in such a short period of time.

"The kids need to sleep, it is getting late," put in Jun.

"He just wanted to save you," giggled Ayame.

"Shut up Ayame."

Ayame rolled her eyes. "But how are you doing Aria? How's our home?"

"I swung by our house and it is still there," replied Aria. "A little messy on the inside but it seems pretty intact."

Jun sighed. "That's good. I was not looking forward to the idea of rebuilding."

"What about Aragami?" Mizuno asked quietly.

"Nothing in the area when Alisa and I were on patrol." Aria shrugged. "It's very weird. The scent of humans would still be strong within the A-2 block so I think everyone is a bit weirded out by the lack of Aragami."

"And that crazy God Eater?"

"Confirmation tomorrow. But Jun, I might not be able to tell you anything. It might be classified to just God Eaters."

Jun shrugged. "At least you'll know something? That's the important part right?"

"Yeah." Aria got to her feet. "Anyway, I would love to hang out and talk and such but I have been neglecting paperwork for the past couple of days. I need to take care of that before it becomes a monster."

"Don't push yourself too hard," instructed Jun. "I know how you get when you are focused on something. I want you to get enough sleep, okay?"

Aria sighed. "Really Jun, I'm fine. I managed to survive months without you around to remind me remember?"

"Well I will say I have no idea how you were able to do that," replied Jun. He gave her a light push on the shoulder. "Now go on. The longer we keep you down here, the later you are going to work. So go."

***

Soma tossed a few times in bed. He was having an incredibly odd dream.

He was standing in the middle of a wide-open field. In front of him was Aria wearing a pure white hoodie. Before her was the Corrosive Hannibal. Soma opened his mouth to yell out a warning, but no words would come out.

She did not seem to be worried though. She lifted her hands and hugged the Corrosive Hannibal's neck. Immediately the creature began to dissolve away, leaving behind a small white bird. As if other creatures had witnessed it, other Aragami started appearing. There were many different species, all pure black.

Aria did not stop to think. She touched each other, transforming them into small white birds. Soma noticed that every time she touched one, the darkness from the creature would leech onto her. While the beasts around her were turning white she was turning darker with each creature she helped.

 _She needs to stop_ …

That thought rose up in Soma's mind. She would be in danger if she continued. Her life would be in danger. He opened his mouth to yell at her to stop but no words would come out of his throat. Growling, he hurried over to her, pushing against the black Aragami that were trying to be purified.

He reached her side and saw the darkness covering her body like a second shell. She turned to look at him and despite the darkness that surrounded her, despite the pain he knew she was feeling, she reached out and grasped his hands with her own.

Soma froze when he realized that his hands were claws. Black Aragami claws. He could see the darkness leeching out from his hands and into hers. He tried to pull away but her grip was tight. She would not let him go without helping him.

_Stop…you need to stop! You're going to die…_

As if she heard his inner thoughts, she looked up into his eyes and gave him a smile before the darkness consumed her.

Soma's eyes shot open and he sat up with a start. He was drenched in sweat. "What the hell?" he growled as he clutched his head. What kind of dream was that? He never had a dream like that before and it pissed him off.

Too riled up to fall back asleep, he got to his feet and grabbed some water from his fridge. He downed half of it before tossing the bottle on the counter. That helped somewhat but there was no way he could fall back asleep right now.

He remembered the smiling expression of the dream Aria and how she had been consumed by the darkness. Although he knew that it was just a dream with no reference to the real world, a part of him really wanted to check on her.

"What the hell is wrong with me? Listening to my dreams now. What's next? Watching Bugarally with Kota?" After he had tossed on his shirt, he stepped out of his room and headed down the hall to hers. It was very quiet since it was the middle of the night. He realized that she was probably asleep and he thought of turning back.

The image of Aria getting devoured by darkness just would not leave his mind though. _She can go back to sleep afterwards_. Reaching her door, he lifted a hand and before he could second guess himself, he rapped his knuckles against it a few times. "It's me," he said.

The door opened a few seconds later. "Hey Soma, what's up?" she asked.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that the bright lights were on in her room with papers strewn around on the table. Obviously, she had not been asleep as he thought. The second was that she was not in her hoodie but in a black tank top.

It shocked him for a few seconds. He was so used to seeing her covered up that seeing her without the hoodie was kind of weird.

Her brow furrowed as she took him in. "Is something wrong?" she asked gently. "It's the middle of the night."

"You're still working?" What the hell was he saying? He shook his head. "Never mind."

"Hang on." She reached out and lightly grabbed his arm. Soma realized that this was the first time he had felt her hand touch his skin directly. Usually he would be wearing his blue coat but he didn't grab it when he had left his room.

She smiled. "Why don't you come in for some tea?"

***

Aria was shocked when she opened the door to find Soma standing there. He had looked disheveled and nervous, not the kind of expression she expected to see on his face. So, it was that reason that she had invited him into her room to have some tea.

"Sorry for the mess, I was catching up on the reports about Aragami in the area. I've been hanging out with my family way too much that I haven't been reading them like I used to." She handed a mug to Soma before sitting down across from him.

"You should take better care of your health," he scolded. "You might get sick if you stay up late like this."

Aria rolled her eyes. It was probably for the best that she didn't tell Soma that she had done this plenty of times in the past.

He stared down at the cup of tea and then at her.

"Oh, does it taste weird? It's not the stuff that the Den gives us."

Soma shook his head. "No, it's good. Just…surprised."

Aria grinned. "It's an herbal blend I use to calm the kids down when they had nightmares. I was able to get some from the house when I was over there. I gave the rest to Ayame but I kept some for myself." She took a long sip. "It's been a while since I drank this so it is pretty nostalgic."

"You always seem to find some way to surprise me."

Aria stared down at her cup of tea. She didn't want to admit it to herself but the fact that Soma was in her room, in the middle of the night, was very, very awkward. She felt even more weirder because of the fact that neither of them were wearing their coats. Seriously what was wrong with her? Freaking out over exposed arms. Ahhh arms, so scary!

Why couldn't she be more like Alisa and Sakuya? Those two didn't seem to have any problem showing off skin to others.

She shook her head and focused back on the matter at hand. There had to be a reason that Soma had come to her room in the middle of the night. "So what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"You're going to think it is stupid."

Aria wanted to put a hand on his shoulder like she did with Kota or Alisa. However she felt like that would step over an invisible line between the two of them. "I have heard Kota's stories about Bugarally. My younger siblings talk about stuff that only kids care about, I think my bar for stupid is different than yours."

Soma ran his fingers through his disheveled platinum blond hair. "I had a dream," he murmured.

"A dream?" Aria stared at him for a few seconds before she drew her eyes down to the drink. Huh, guess she gave him the right herbal blend after all. Wait a minute. If he was here after having a dream… "A dream about me?" She was happy that there was no tell-tale squeak in her voice. Good. She needed to be the strong captain that was giving advice right now and not a nervous girl with the guy she liked in her room.

Soma groaned. "It sounds so stupid when I hear you say it like that."

"No, I'm not judging you or anything." _Just really surprised_. "A bad dream?"

"Something like that," replied Soma. "You sort of…died at the end."

She opened her mouth and shut it. "Oh." She remembered having those kinds of dreams when she had first become Captain. She might have seemed calm and in control to others but in her room,  she was worried about keeping everyone else alive on missions.

"I know, it's stupid."

"It's not," she said gently. Against her better judgment, she put down her cup and reached out and grasped Soma's free hand with hers. She gently ran her fingers along his knuckles. "The fact that you are in my room right now after having a dream like that tells me that you view me as a comrade."

"Of course I do," he said in surprise. "You're the Captain of the First Unit." He gave her a small smile. "I don't think I would follow anyone else's commands on the battle field. You have a knack for keeping us all alive."

She could feel her cheeks heating up from that smile and stare. She pulled her hands back and picked up her cup to distract herself. "You can be so cruel sometimes," she murmured under her breath.

"What was that?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing."

They two sat in silence, both sipping away at their drinks. It didn't feel awkward at all, in fact it felt sort of nice. They never did stuff like this. Her eyelids began to feel heavy. She didn't want to admit it to him, but she was going to head off to bed when he had knocked on her door. She could hear him talking but she was already too far gone to actually understand what he was saying.

***

What the hell was he doing? A couple months ago he would never have come to Aria's room to drink tea in the middle of the night. And yet here he was today, drinking tea in her room.

"Ayame told us something else on that day she told us embarrassing stories of your past," began Soma. "She told us that you were the type to hold everything so no one else could see what you were going through." He thought back to his dream. "So uh…what I want to say is that you can tell me stuff you know. I'll listen…"

He turned to gauge her reaction but what he saw was even weirder. "Are you actually asleep?" No response. No way…she had actually fallen asleep on him? Sitting up too which made it even weirder. He was struck by the fact that he had never seen her asleep before. Sure, he had seen her knocked out when she had been attacked by the Hannibal but that was different than this. Was she really that tired?

Slowly Soma got to his feet and gently pried the cup out of her hands. Thankfully she had rested it in her lap so it had not spilled onto the floor. After cleaning them in the sink he turned back to face her. What was he going to do? She was still sleeping there. It was not like he could just leave her to sleep like that.

He glanced over at her bed and then at her. "Good thing Lindow isn't here," he murmured. Soma had the feeling that Lindow would have something interesting to say about this. After Soma had pulled the blanket back, he returned to her side. The easiest way to get her to the bed would be to carry her in the front and not on his back like he did the past couple of times.

Why did the thought of it make him feel so awkward?

He shook his head. No, he just needed to focus. Slowly, he slipped a hand to support her back while the other he set under her thighs. After a mental count of three, he lifted her up. He felt her stir slightly but she didn't wake.

"You can be a real handful sometimes," he murmured as he turned slowly. "Maybe we need to get you to eat more, you're real light. No wonder you use a short sword in battle." Why was he rambling away like this? What if his talking woke her up right now? Ugh, he didn't want her to wake up at this moment. It was just so…awkward?

Finally, after what felt like eternity, he reached her bed. He gently put her down and pulled the covers up. "Hopefully you will be able to sleep well tonight at least," he murmured as he stared at her sleeping face. He had heard from Lindow that girls looked cute when they slept. Sakuya had turned red and then kicked him for it.

Maybe Lindow was right about something. Aria looked kind of cute asleep.

What the hell was he thinking?

He quickly turned and headed for the door. It was really late. That had to be the reason he was having weird thoughts.

***

The next morning, Aria joined the rest of the First Unit in the executive office. Dr. Sakaki was sitting behind the desk and Tsubaki stood in front of it. Aria gave Soma small smile when she entered but he would not look at her. She mentally shrugged at that.

She woke up in her bed after falling asleep on Soma. Obviously, he had put her in her bed. He was probably embarrassed about having to do something like that. She, on the other hand, wished she was awake when he did that. It was very sweet of him to do that before leaving (although she would never tell him that).

"Okay, you're all here," said Tsubaki. "I guess we'll start."

Dr. Sakaki rested his elbows on the desk and leaned forward. "From this day on the First Unit will be removed from protecting the A-2 area until further notice."

"Other than your normal extermination duties, there is the matter of this God Eater Aria faced."

"So we finally know who it is?" asked Lindow. "Took you long enough Sis."

Tsubaki silenced Lindow with a glare. "I had to confirm a few things. This was a highly sensitive matter and I needed to be sure."

"Is it really that bad?" Kota asked.

Tsubaki nodded. "The God Eater that had attacked Aria is named Maria Yamada. She was a God Eater assigned to this branch eight years ago. She has worked here at the branch for two years."

"I think I remember her," said Sakuya. "Very faintly though."

"Why was she only at the branch for two years?" asked Alisa. "And why did she attack Aria?"

"I'm getting to that."

"The bias factor at the time was not as refined as it is today," spoke up Dr. Sakaki. "Unfortunately, there were side effects in Maria Yamada, causing her to be mentally unstable as a result. She was transferred to a mental hospital and has been there for the past six years."

"It seems like the hospital wanted to keep it hush hush but she escaped from the facility along with her God Arc about two weeks ago."

"I also hypothesize that she's the reason for the hole in A-2. The cuts to the Wall seemed too smooth for a random occurrence so all that was left was a God Arc," put in Dr. Sakaki. "For that reason, despite the replacement piece for the Wall being almost finished, we do not want to put it in until Maria Yamada has been taken care of in case she attacks the Wall again."

"How do we know she is even still in the area?" asked Aria. "No one has reported her in."

"She is actually from this region so we assume that any part of her rational mind that is still active is trying to go back to places she knows. Plus the other branches haven't reported anything so we assume she is still here."

"I was hiding under your noses for a long time too," Lindow pointed out. "It's easy to stay out of sight around here."

"So be on the lookout for her when you are out on your missions but be careful. She is mentally unstable so she is unable to tell friend from foe." She turned to Aria. "I sent you the detailed files on the case so you can review it later. For the rest of you, I have given you access to the basic information."

"Got it," said Aria.

"Oh right, before you go…" Dr. Sakaki typed away on the computer in front of him for a few moments before he turned the screen around. "This is what Maria looked like in the last picture that was taken of her when she was in the hospital."

Aria's blood turned cold. No way. She could feel her emotions start bubbling up. She grabbed them and shoved them back into a corner of herself. No, she could not react. She could not have that kind of reaction.

"Got it," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I'll return to my room and look over the detailed files. I'm not on a mission right?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "No."

"Got it." Aria noticed Soma watching her, but she ignored him as she hurried back to her room. Usually she would take the elevator with everyone else but this time she took the stairs. It was faster, and she didn't want to have to deal with anyone else right now.

Reaching her room, she slammed the door shut behind her and locked it. She crumpled to the floor and wrapped her arms around herself. "Nee-san…" she whispered.

***

Soma knew something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong with her.

He watched Aria talk to Hibari from the couch on the elevated part of the floor. She had seemed agitated after Dr. Sakaki showed the picture of what Maria looked like. Soma didn't see anything weird about it. Sure, the girl looked a bit out there but she was in a mental hospital. Dark brown hair that reached her midback and out there green eyes. Soma had looked through the files when he had returned to his room but there was nothing weird in them.

"You know, if you keep staring at her like that, someone's going to figure it out."

Soma jerked back and glared up at Lindow. The God Eater sat down next to Soma. "Seriously, can you hurry up and figure it out already?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Lindow shook his head. "Maybe it is because I didn't get to watch the progression that is so obvious to me. Honestly, it is so painful watching this sometimes."

"What the hell are you going on about?" growled Soma.

Lindow shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me."

Soma wanted to strangle Lindow.

"Oh hey Lindow," said Aria. She nodded to Soma. "The mission was fine?"

"Yeah," replied Lindow. "How's strategizing going on your end? Figure out ways to stop Maria?"

"Kind of," she replied.

Was Soma imagining it or did she look uncomfortable right now?

"Anyway, I'm going to go check on Jun and the others. See you guys later."

Lindow waved goodbye before focusing back on Soma. "You are worried about her right?"

Soma winced. What the hell was Lindow getting at?

"I don't blame you, she is acting a little weird right now." Lindow tapped his claws on the table. It made a really disturbing sound to Soma.

Where was he going with this? Lindow was staring at Soma expectantly. Lindow sighed in disappointment. "Look, I heard about what happened with Shio and all, so I can understand why you are a little slow on the uptake but still. I really think Kota would have understood better than you do."

What the hell? Soma opened his mouth to protest but Lindow was already on his feet. "Just think it over a bit alright?" he said.

***

"Aria? Are you listening?"

Aria blinked and focused on Ayame's concerned face. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You've been a little out of it since yesterday. Is everything alright?"

How could she tell Ayame that Nee-san was a crazy God Eater that had tried to kill Aria before? Aria had scanned through the files Tsubaki had sent her. It was mostly just detailed medical files along with all the records of her battle accomplishments. There was nothing in them that truly gave a reason for Nee-san's decline. It was hypothesized that it was caused by her not being one hundred percent compatible with the bias factor, but it was unknown if that was truly the cause.

"Maybe you should rest while you can," said Jun. "You really do seem more tired out than you did before."

"You don't need to visit us!" put in Kimi. "We can take care of ourselves."

Aria patted the younger girl on the head. "I know you can. Why don't you go play with the other kids?"

Kimi nodded and scrambled off Aria's lap.

Aria watched her go before she focused on her older siblings. "What if…what if one of us saw Nee-san again…what would you do?"

"If we saw Nee-san again?" Ayame thought it over. "I don't know…hug her?"

"I would want to know where she went," said Jiro.

"I would punch her for leaving us alone for so long," grumbled Jun. "But then I guess I would hug her…she was-is our older sister after all. Why'd you ask such a thing Aria?"

Aria shook her head. "I'm just curious, it's nothing. Just a thought I had." She got to her feet. "Sorry I can't stay long guys, God Eater business to take care of."

"Oh, before you go, I heard the piece of the Wall was almost complete, is it true?" asked Jun.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. Soon you guys will be able to go home." She grinned. "I know you will be happy to get away from us smelly God Eaters."

"Oh you bet," laughed Jun.

Aria managed to keep it together until she got to the elevator. As the doors closed she leaned her head against the wall. What the hell was she going to do? "Did you not continue to attack because you recognized me Nee-san?" She bit her lip. What was she going to do? The files stated that Maria was so de-attached from reality that she could not function in the real world. In other words, it was almost impossible to bring her in alive.

"Could I actually do it?" she whispered. Nee-san was the one that had took in all the orphaned children into her house. She didn't have to do it, but she saved them all. "Can I save you Nee-san?" she whispered. She clutched the hem of her hoodie. "You would want me to be strong about this…right Nee-san?"

The elevator slowed to a stop. Aria stood and sucked in a few deep breaths to get her emotions under control as the doors opened on the main floor. She walked out and headed down to where Hibari was. "Did it work?"

Hibari looked up and nodded. "I was just about to call you. Your idea was correct. I have found an armlet signal at the northern area of the Tranquil Temple. It was faint so I would have overlooked it otherwise. I'm surprised that you were able to figure out Maria's location so quickly."

"Lucky guess," replied Aria.

"Shall I call a meeting of the First Unit? You will be able to take care of it right away."

Aria shook her head. "No, wait an hour. Lindow, Alisa and Kota were on just on a mission, I want everyone to be at full strength when we fight her. She is very unstable but still a strong God Eater."

"But what if she moves locations?" asked Hibari.

"It should be fine. I estimate she won't move from now until then. Thanks Hibari and remember, an hour." Aria walked away. She didn't know if Hibari would listen to her suggestion. She hoped so. This would give her an hour to take care of everything. Hopefully that would be enough.

***

 _"All members of the First Unit, report to the bridge at once!_ "

Hibari's voice echoed over the intercom system. Soma jumped off his bed and threw on his coat. Did they find Maria? Why else would the First Unit be called though? When he reached the bridge, he saw all the other members of the First Unit minus Aria.

"Okay, this is starting to seem very familiar," commented Kota.

Hibari frowned and typed away on her computer. She stopped and stared at the screen. "Uh, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki groaned. "Don't tell me she has gone to take care of Maria by herself?"

"Unfortunately it has seems so. I have pinpointed her location to the Tranquil Temple."

"Seriously, what is up with her and doing everything herself?" sighed Alisa.

"What I don't get is why she went to fight Maria alone," put in Sakuya. "There is no point to it. It's not like she knew Maria…"

An idea sparked in Soma's head. "Tsubaki…how many years ago was Maria part of this branch?"

"Eight," replied Tsubaki. "Why?"

"Can you pull a picture up of Maria on your screen?" he asked Hibari. "I'll be right back." He thought back to how agitated Aria looked after she had seen Maria's picture. How for the past day she seemed very distant from everyone else. Normally he would never have noticed it. Hell, it took him a few weeks to realize how distant she was during the Ren case. Why did it take him so much less time this time to do so? Why was he paying so much attention to her in the first place?

No time to be thinking about that.

He got off the elevator on the refugee floor. It took him a few moments to locate the small camp made up of Aria's siblings. Jun backed up a few steps as Soma approached.

"You're…Soma right?" spoke up Ayame. "I remember you."

"I need you to come with me," he said gruffly.

"Hey!" snapped Jun. "What the hell is going on?"

Soma glared at Jun. "It involves Aria. I need her to confirm something."

Jun shut his mouth and looked away.

"It's fine Jun," Ayame said gently. To Soma, "I knew something was wrong. She said something odd to us too."

Damn it. Was his suspicion right? He took Ayame up to the bridge floor and brought her over to where Hibari and the others waited.

"What's Ayame doing here?" wondered Sakuya.

"Hibari, show her the picture of Maria."

Just like Soma thought, the girl's eyes widen in shock at the picture. "But…that's…Nee-san…"

A collective groan went up in the group.

"Should have guessed," sighed Sakuya. "What else could it have been?"

"I can't believe none of us figured this out," sighed Lindow. "The timing was just right too."

"What…what's going on?" asked Ayame. "What happened with Nee-san? What's Aria doing?"

"That girl…" Tsubaki shook her head. "I'll need to give her a stern talking to when she gets back here."

"I knew this is a personal fight but are we really going to let her fight alone?" asked Kota.

"Wait, Aria is fighting Maria?" gasped Ayame. The poor girl was still very lost to what was going on.

"There is no way we can do that," protested Alisa. "She fought against Lindow alone to spare our feelings. We can't let her go through this fight alone…"

Lindow crossed his arms. "Yes…we can't let her fight alone." He turned to Soma. "Go after her right now, the rest of us will join up in another hour if you don't respond."

What the hell was up with Lindow at a time like this? "Hang on, why only me?" He didn't know a thing about Maria other than she apparently raised Aria. What was he supposed to do?

"Lindow, really," spoke up Sakuya.

Lindow shook his head stubbornly. "No, I think this is a good idea. Trust me on this one Sakuya."

"I…I agree."

Everyone turned to Ayame. They had forgotten that the girl was even there. She was staring at Soma with an odd look on her face. "Yes, it will be fine. Soma should go. Only him."

She focused on the group. "I don't know the situation that well but I know Aria. I know Nee-san. Aria will fight with everything she has. If something has happened with Nee-san…I know she would want Aria to take care of her. Aria would do it. She's strong like that…or appears to be strong like that." She smiled at Soma. "She's told us about you guys, about the missions you went on and what not. I think I finally understand the dynamics. I agree with Lindow. Please go Soma. Not to fight Maria but to be there for her…please."

What the heck was Ayame talking about? He turned to the group, but the rest of the First Unit seemed to understand something that Soma didn't.

Alisa sighed. "Alright. You get one hour, make sure she comes back alive."

Tsubaki nodded. "As an order for me, Soma Schicksal go after First Unit Captain Aria and make sure she returns safe and sound."

Soma nodded. He might not truly understand what everyone had been talking about but that order he could follow. He would go and return with their Captain.

***

Aria sucked in a few deep breaths as she lowered her sword. "Nee-san…nee-san you need to stop," she begged.

Maria's expression did not change as she lifted her buster blade and tried to strike Aria again. Aria dodged left to avoid the sword and swung her own. The cloak that Maria wore to cover herself was torn apart in the various places where Aria had struck her. Thankfully Maria had not been able to land a hit but Aria did not know if it was because the weight of the sword or was a part of Maria still in there.

"I know you wanted to go home," Aria said gently. "That's why you made a hole in the Anti-Aragami Wall near A-2. You wanted to go home. You didn't expect the Aragami attack, so you fled here."

She dodged another sword swing from Maria. "You told me about this place remember? You mentioned how you liked the temple here because it was so quiet. No God Eaters were here because we were all defending A-2 so you were left alone, at least until Jun and I came here."

Maria let out a guttural cry before swinging her sword again.

"I wish we knew Nee-san!" cried Aria as she attacked the sword swing head on. She deflected the swing before striking out with her own. She was too far away to do any real damage to Maria. "Jun and I thought was something was weird with the way you were acting, we could feel something was wrong, we just couldn't figure it out though! And then you vanished from our lives when in fact you had lost your grip on reality."

Maria screamed and swung her God Arc.

"Self-preservation only," Aria whispered as she blocked that swing as well. "That's all the file said. All you know now, due to the oracle cells and your God Arc's will, you just want to live, that's it. Your mind is gone…the Nee-san I know is gone."

Again Aria blocked the swing. "I knew the others would want to fight by my side. I know they would want to share this burden with me but…I can't Nee-san. I'm sorry if I'm a selfish child but I have to take care of you myself, for the sake of all the children you have raised. It has to be me."

Maria swung her blade harder than before. Aria yelped as the weight slammed her to the ground. Aria scrambled back to her feet to see Maria running. "Nee-san!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

Aria stared in shock as Soma stepped out from behind one of the buildings. His white God Arc matched the snow below. What was he doing here? He swung his blade in Maria's direction. Maria growled and tried to strike him with her blade but he blocked and pushed her back towards Aria.

"Everyone is pissed off at you right now for going off without us again," he said.

Aria wanted to ask what he was doing here but Maria was now like a cornered rat. She was wildly swinging her sword around and screaming at the top of her lungs.

"She's going to attract Aragami," growled Soma.

"Nee-san…please, you need to stop," begged Aria. "Please, for the sake of Jun and the others, please…"

No sign of recognition from Maria. With Soma here, she could feel her leadership role sinking back into her. She knew what she had to do. She could not hesitate. It would mean both of their deaths if Maria attracted Aragami with her voice.

Aria transformed her God Arc to gun mode. "Nee-san, everyone else can't go home. You might break the Wall again so they can't go home unless you are not a problem."

Maria's crazed eyes focused on her. She swung. Aria fired a shot at the blade, knocking Maria off balance. She raced towards Nee-san, her gun turning back into a sword.

Aria swung.

She never knew how easy it was to cut through a human's body with a God Arc. It wasn't like cutting through an Aragami at all. It was much easier, much cleaner.

Aria numbly stared down at Maria's limp form. She took a few shaky breathes. The mission was over. She had done it by herself. She was fine. She was a God Eater. She was completely fine. She was strong. She was fine.

"Let it out Aria," he said gently. "Your sister, Ayame, she told us about it. How you have to hold your emotions so no one knows when you are sad or upset. Just let it out. I won't tell." He turned his back to her. "Go ahead."

She heard something weird. It was an odd sound. It reminded her of the sobbing Alisa did when she cried. It hit her a moment later where the sound was actually coming from. Aria crumpled to the ground in front of Nee-san's body as the tears that she had kept locked away for six years finally spilled out. She could not stop the weird sobbing noises she made as she cried. It just came out along with the tears.

***

Like a silent protector, Soma just stood there, with his back to her, watching the surroundings to make sure nothing approached. He could hear her screaming and crying behind him but he did not want to turn to look at her. What if she stopped letting it out if she realized he was watching her?

He stared down at his hand and gritted his teeth. He didn't know why each sob she let out pierced him like a small dagger. He looked up at the moon overhead. Was Shio up there, watching them right now? What would she say in a time like this?

Odd, he realized. Usually when he looked up at the moon, he felt a sense of sadness hit him. Not this time though. Yes, a part of him was sad about Shio leaving but it wasn't as strong as before.

_"You're so silly Soma, you found something much more tastier than Shio was."_

Soma stared at his sword. He didn't know if the words came from what he thought Shio would say or it was from the part of Shio that rested in his sword and she was speaking to him. Something tastier than Shio huh?

He took a deep breath and turned to look at her. She was crumpled on the ground, her arms wrapped around herself. To say it nicely, she looked like a mess. Her face was red, her eyes puffy from crying. She was shaking as those weird sobs kept escaping her throat.

He knelt next to her. She looked up at him with lost eyes. "S….S….S…Soma…" she managed to choke out. She rubbed her eyes to try to stop the tears from coming out.

"Stop it." He pulled her hands away from her face. "Keep crying. You need to let it out."

She shook her head. "N..."

He didn't let her finish as he put down his sword and pulled her to his chest. "Keep crying. I won't let you go till you're done."

Her sobs got louder and she body shook as she cried until there was nothing left.

***

"You mean we can't stay here?" whined Kimi. "I want to hang out with the God Eaters! They're so cool!"

"But you guys get to go home," Kota pointed out. "No need to spend all of your time stuck down here in a boring room of the Den."

Soma watched as a couple of the children started claiming reasons why Kota was dead wrong with his assumptions. Nearby Alisa was being helped with learning the names of all the children by Jiro.

"So the one with dark hair is Ken, the one with the ponytail is Aiko…"

Lindow was letting a few children touch his red arm. A little girl poked it and recoiled back in surprise as Lindow tried grabbing her with it.

"Stop it, don't scare them!" scolded Sakuya as she hit her husband's arm.

Aria was sitting in the middle with one of the smaller children in her lap. She was telling a couple of them a story of a mission. She no longer wore her brown hoodie. She had told him (as well as everyone else) that since it was a memento of Maria, it was too painful for her to wear. Now she tended to wear a tank top in battle instead. She said it didn't restrict her movement as much but all Soma could think of was that her arms were exposed and that was ignoring the fact that he saw way more of the top of her chest than he was used to.

After the Maria incident, the work on the Wall had gone by much faster and now the Wall piece was complete. It was going to be installed tonight with the people from A-2 being able to return in the morning. Aria had wanted to spend the final night with them and she invited everyone else from the First Unit to join her. She had invited the Second and Third Unit but those two Units were on guard duty for the night while the Wall were being fixed. The First Unit would be called in if things got too out of hand for the other Units to handle.

He silently watched as Aria continued to tell the story to the young children. Ever since the Maria case he noticed she seemed more open with him. Hell, she seemed more open with the First Unit. When the two of them had returned, Tsubaki looked like she was going to yell but held back as Aria looked like she was going to cry again.

There was a tenderness now to her, he realized.

"This is getting so old."

Soma glanced over at Ayame. The girl was staring at him with her hands on her hips. "What?" asked Soma. Was she going to yell at him because he wasn't like everyone else and cooing and talking to these kids? He had only come down here because everyone else was going to be here. He did not want to deal with children.

Ayame let out another sigh. "Nothing is going to happen, is it?" She turned her back to Soma. "Hey Aria!"

Aria looked up. "What's up Ayame?"

Ayame looked back at Soma. He stepped away from the wall, his danger instincts going off at full blast. What was this girl going to do?

Ayame turned back to Aria. "Can you and Soma hurry up and start dating? It's really painful to watch and I suspect that everyone here is just waiting for it to happen so can you both please put everyone else out of their misery?"

It was dead silent. Soma could feel his face burning and he tugged the top of his hood down. "What the hell?" he grumbled.

"A…Ayame! Really!?" cried Aria. "That was uncalled for! Seriously Soma, don't listen to her, she says crazy things."

"I'm leaving," grumbled Soma, turning away. He headed for the elevator, painfully aware of the staring on his back. He pushed the button to call it. Damn it, what the hell was up with Ayame? Why did she say something like that!? Dating Aria of all people? Hell, dating anyone was something he never thought about doing. He had been always called a monster, he never could think of thoughts like that.

However, things had changed when she had appeared. She had helped change the views of the people around him. She had always been by his side, fighting with him no matter what. He remembered her face as she slept soundly, when she had broken down, her Captain face. Everything, he remembered everything about her.

"Damn it, damn it," he growled. The elevator was almost here.

He whirled around and hurried back over to the group.

"Seriously Ayame, you can't say stuff like that!" Aria scolded. She broke off as Soma approached.

He walked over to her side and grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."

"Awww, Soma is kidnapping her, how cute."

Soma glared at Lindow. He finally understood what Lindow had been talking about that day and it pissed him off that Lindow had figured it out a lot earlier than he had.

"Come on kids, let's cheer them on," put in Alisa. "Let's clap."

Kota joined in the clapping.

Soma hated these guys. "Let's get out of here." He focused his attention on the ground as he pulled Aria along with him. She didn't protest or fight as he led her in the elevator and took her up to their living quarters floor.

Realizing he was still holding her arm, he released her. "Oh, sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about it," she replied quickly. "But yeah…Ayame's statement…a bit inappropriate there. I'll talk to her about it. Pull rank. I know that was probably very uncomfortable for you."

Soma stared at her and realized that Ayame was right. Nothing would happen. It would have taken him much longer to figure it out and even then would he actually act on it? He could not say. All he could say was what he would do right now.

"What…" he began.

She stopped talking and looked up at him expectantly. "What?" she prompted.

"What if Ayame was right?" Damn it. He rubbed the back of his neck. He would rather face a pack of Vajras right now than be in this situation.

"If Ayame was right?" whispered Aria. Her magenta eyes seemed to have more of a pink look to them today. "Soma…you're saying…"

"I don't know much about this kind of stuff," he mumbled. "But I think it would be easy to learn…or something like that." Wasn't this kind of moment supposed to be filled with fireworks or something? Damn, he felt like he said the whole thing wrong.

"Soma, I'm sorry…"

Damn it. Did he just make a fool of himself? What the hell was he doing, actually confessing his feelings to her when he didn't know how she felt about this? What if she just went along to be nice? She was the type to do that so he wouldn't lose face in public.

"But give me a moment to process this correctly."

What kind of reaction was that? He stared at her. She had a wide grin on her face. It actually looked a bit creepy. "Uh Aria?"

"Ilikeyoutoo."

Soma stared at her. "Sorry?" Her words sounded jumbled together. He didn't understand a word she had said. He sighed. "Aria, you don't need to push yourself if you don't…"

He jumped slightly as she reached out and grasped his hands in her own. That creepy grin on her face was not helping situations much. "Sorry," she replied. She took a few deep breaths and looked up at him. "I like you too," she replied. "I've liked you for a long time actually."

Wait what? He stared at her. "What do you mean by a long time?" He could feel his face heating up by the way she was staring at him.

She gently ran her thumbs along his knuckles. She lowered her head. "I can't tell you exactly but I guess it happened after Shio joined us."

That long? "You have liked me for that long?" he whispered.

"Don't say it like that now," she laughed. "You're making me sound sad and desperate." She released his hands and grinned at him. "As your Captain, I give you permission to date me."

"Is that right?" Soma chuckled.

"You know that now you're going to have to win Jun over. I don't think pinning him to a wall did any good for his impression of you."

"He'll live with it," grumbled Soma. He jumped as Aria slipped her hand into his.

It was a foreign feeling but nice. He gripped her hand tighter. "I…I'll try my best and stuff…" Maybe he should have paid attention to the various advice Lindow had given out over the years of what one did with a girl.

She giggled. "Don't worry, I think you'll get the hang of this thing soon enough. You want to have some tea? I have some leftover herbs in my room from last time."

"Sure, but don't you go falling asleep on me this time."

"Hey now! I was tired alright!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter takes place after the events of Resurrection.

Aria had no idea what was going on between her and Soma.

               Soon after they had officially gotten together (Lindow’s language), the incident with the Arius Nova happened. Pretty much their relationship had been put on hold as soon as it had begun. Soma was focused more on the cleanup of the Arda Nova fragments as he had fallen behind after both the Lindow and Maria cases. With all the stuff that had been going on, their relationship seemed to have defaulted back to how it was before he had confessed to her in the living quarters.

               However, now that the Arius Nova was dead, things had returned to normal in the Den. Well, as normal as it could get with the threat of Aragami every day.

               So, she did the only thing she could do to figure out how to solve this issue. She went to see Sakuya. Or, a better way of putting it, she attempted to see Sakuya. For some reason Sakuya was not in her room.

               “She’s not on a mission right?” Aria frowned and thought it over. Nope. She wasn’t. Lindow was going to be leaving soon on a mission for Dr. Sakaki so Aria wanted the couple to have some time alone time together before he left for who knows how long.

               She sighed and went downstairs to see if Alisa was in her room. The two of them had been on a mission earlier in the day but Alisa had hurried off as soon as the helicopter had touched the ground of the Den.

               Nope. Alisa was not in her room either. She heard a noise behind her and turned to see Kota leaving his room with a box in hand.

               “Hey Kota, you need help there?”

               Kota froze and stared at Aria. “Whoa! What are you doing there!? Wait. Why are you here!?”

               She raised an eyebrow. “Uh…what?”

               “Just…hang on one moment!” Kota darted back into his room.

               He didn’t come out for a while. Frowning, she went over and knocked on his door. “Kota? Everything okay in there?”

               “Fine!” came Kota’s muffled voice through the door. “Everything is fine! You stay out there okay!”

               Now Aria was curious. “Kota! I’m going to come-”

               “First Unit Captain Aria, please come to the main floor!” Hibari’s voice echoed over the intercom.

               Aria forgot all about Kota’s weird behavior. “I need to go Kota.”

               “Uh yeah! You go get ‘em!”        

               “Going to need to ask him about that later…” Reaching the main floor, she hurried over to Hibari’s station. Much to her surprise Soma was there as well.

               “Hey Aria. There’s an Amaterasu in the Forgotten Carrier. Can you and Soma take care of it?” Hibari did not look up from her computer screen.

               “Yeah sure.” She grinned at Soma. “I think the two of us would be able to handle this!”

               “Uh yeah.” Soma tugged his hood down.

***

               Aria wondered if she had done something wrong in the past couple of days. The helicopter flight was silent. Whenever she tried to begin a conversation with Soma, he would only respond in one word answers.

               Things got even weirder when they reached the Forgotten Carrier.

               “You think the outriders were wrong?” Aria did not see any sign of an Amaterau anywhere.

               “Probably not,” replied Soma. He walked a few steps ahead of her. When she tried to speed up to walk next to him, he would just increase his gait.

               She touched her earpiece. “Hey Hibari, are you sure there’s an Amaterasu here?”

               “I think so! Keep looking. It might be hiding behind something!” chirped Hibari’s happy voice.

               Hiding behind something? There wasn’t really any place to hide around here! Maybe it was hiding in that big crater in the middle of the roadway? She slowly approached it and peered in. Nothing.

               “You have any ideas where this thing could be?” she asked.

               Soma shrugged. “Not really? Hibari isn’t usually wrong though…”

               “Yeah, that’s true.” She rested her god arc on her shoulder. “Hey, did I do something to annoy you?”

               “Annoy?” He had been walking towards the mountain of asphalt in the back of the area but at her words, he turned to look at her. “Aria, you haven’t annoyed me in anyway.”

               She frowned. “Really Soma? Cause I doubt that. You’ve been pretty much avoiding talking to me during this whole mission.” Could it even be called a mission at this point? They haven’t even found one Aragami to fight.

               “No! It’s nothing about you! It’s just…” He trailed off and looked away from her.

               “Just what? What is it? Come on, you can spit it out Soma!” She froze as she realized something. She looked down at her feet. Logically it did make sense.  It could explain why he had been treating her like he always had even after the Arius Nova incident had passed. Maybe it was those fragments of Shio. Maybe they reminded Soma of what it was like back then…

               “Aria?” Soma looked at her in concern.

               Was she overthinking this? She wasn’t sure.  Ugh. Aragami battle strategies were easier to figure out compared to this.

               She scratched the back of her head. Normally she might keep these thoughts to herself but Soma was involved and she really did not want to force him to do anything he didn’t want to do. “If…if you want to break it off Soma then it’s fine, really. I understand.”

               His eyes widen. “Wait what?”

               Why did he seem so confused about this? “I mean, I know we got together and all but then Arius Nova happened and we had other stuff to focus on but Shio was involved and well I know how much you cared for her and our relationship hadn’t developed at all so…”

               Soma seemed to get more and more confused as she kept talking.  “Aria…really, what are you talking about? Do…do you want to break up?”

               Did he seem hurt by that? Now she wondered if her line of thinking was even correct. “Well, I don’t want to, but do you want to?”

               “No! Of course not!” He walked back over to her, his blue eyes had a hint of panic to them.  “Why would you think that?”

               Aria wanted to tear out her hair. This was ten times more complicated than fighting Aragami. “But then why have you been avoiding talking to me all day today!?”

               “That’s…” He growled under his breath. “Damn you Kota.”

               She raised an eyebrow. “What does Kota have to do with this?”

               “He has everything to do with this!” snapped Soma. He let out a long sigh. “Just…trust me alright? I’m not mad at you or anything. I…I still want to date you…” He mumbled out the last part without looking her in the eye. Unlike the previous times, he had avoided looking her in the eye, this time he looked    embarrassed.

               She could feel her own cheeks heating up and she looked away. “Oh…. well that’s good.”

               “Hang on, are you actually embarrassed right now?”

               “Be quiet, I can get embarrassed too you know!” Aria ran her fingers through her hair. She giggled. “Well this is awkward now.”

               “Yeah. Where’s an Aragami when you need one?” chuckled Soma.

               “I don’t think any Aragami deserves the kind of punishment we would give it right now,” she laughed. “Although speaking of Aragami, where in the world is that Amaterasu? I really don’t think that it’s here.”

               She noticed that Soma seemed to be listening to someone over his ear piece. She frowned and pulled hers out to check on it. It seemed to be working fine.

               “Was that Hibari?” she asked when it looked like Soma was done. “Mine’s malfunctioning I think.”

               “Yeah. We need to get going. The Amaterasu…moved.”

               “It moved?”

               Soma nodded. “Yeah, we’re going to the Tranquil Temple.”

***

Reaching the temple, Aria saw no signs of the Amaterasu anywhere.  Those things were huge. There was no way one could travel around without leaving evidence behind.

               “I really don’t think there is an Amaterasu here…” She startled as Soma grasped her hand.

               “C…come on. This way.”

               “Soma, what’s going on?” She tried to pull her hand out of his, but he just gripped her hand tighter. “We shouldn’t walk like this if we’re on a hunt. It’s not like it’s a date or something.”

               Soma almost tripped over his own feet. “Damn it. I’m going to strangle you Kota,” he growled under his breath.

               Again with Kota? “Soma, really. What is going-”

               They turned a corner and Aria was hit with a barrage of “surprise!” and poppers going off.

               “What?” It took her a couple moments to take in the spread in front of her. Everyone from the First Unit was here along with Dr. Sakaki, Tsubaki and Lindow. There was a huge blanket spread out on the ground, piled high with foods and drinks.

               “Took you long enough to get here!” Lindow held up a can of beer.

               “What…what is going on?” Aria stared at Soma. He had released her hand and walked over to the pile of food.

               “We’re having the moon viewing party that we were supposed to a while back!” said Dr. Sakaki.

               “That’s a part of it.” Alisa stood and guided Aria over to an open spot on the blanket. Everyone’s god arcs were lying on the ground in reaching distance and Aria followed suit with her own. “Ayame also contacted us a couple days ago.”

               “She did? What did she say?” Aria asked in surprise.

               Soma pulled something out of the basket and held it out to her. “Happy birthday Aria,” he said.

               She looked down at the cake in surprise. “Oh,” she whispered.

               “I decorated it!” Kota puffed out his chest proudly. “It’s you fighting the final villain of season four of Bugarally! I thought it was quite fitting!”

               Oh, so that’s what the squiggly lines were. “It’s great Kota. Wait. When I came by earlier in the day and you had that box?”

               “Yeah, you scared me. Didn’t want you to know about the surprise beforehand. Ended up roping Hibari to help out.”

               Oh. Now things made sense. She smiled at Soma. “You know, you are really bad at lying, you know that?”

               “Shut up,” he mumbled.

               Sakuya laughed. “He was the only one still around so it wasn’t like we had much choice on who to send to keep you distracted.”

               “Can we stop chitchatting right now and eat?” put in Lindow. “I’m starving!”

               Tsubaki sighed. “Really Lindow?”

               “Don’t hold back on my account!” Aria reached for a dumpling. “Let’s eat!”

***

               The moon viewing/birthday party had gone on for a few hours. A few Ogretails tried to sneak up on them but Sakuya and Lindow dispatched them before they got anywhere near the party area. They had refused to let Aria leave, saying as the birthday girl, she should stay and have fun. Once the food ran dry the party had quickly come to an end. Since they were a big group, they needed multiple helicopters to get everyone back. Tsubaki, Dr. Sakaki, Lindow and Sakuya went on the first, leaving the rest of the First Unit behind to wait for the other one.

While Kota and Alisa argued over whether the birthday cake design was artistically good or not, Aria joined Soma in looking up at the moon a few feet away.

“You had fun right?” he asked her.

               She nodded. “Yeah, it was fun. I really was not expecting a birthday party.” Apparently, she had also had presents waiting for her back in the Den. No one wanted to bring them in case there was an actual Aragami attack.

               He sighed in relief.  “That’s good. When Kota suggested we made it a surprise, I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not.” He was silent for a few moments. “From what we were talking about before, in the Forgotten Carrier…I wasn’t lying. I really do still want to date you. Well, actually date you since that didn’t happen before-I mean...” He groaned.

               She had to laugh at his floundering. This time she put her hand in his and leaned against his arm. “Well that’s good since I still want to date you too,” she replied softly.

               “We…we need to get better at this. Actually do things….whatever couples do.”

               “Well technically we did have a date today in a way?” she pointed out. “Wasn’t much of a date though but we can change that in the future.”

               “True.”

               “I don’t want to disturb you two, but helicopter is here guys!” called Alisa.

               Aria looked back. “Thanks Alisa!” She looked down at their hands and then at Soma

“We…. we can hold hands until we get to the helicopter right?” he asked.

“I would say so,” replied Aria.

Much to her surprise, Soma did not let go of her hand when Alisa and Kota gave them wide grins. Instead his grip on her hand tightened. She smiled. Everything was fine after all.               

 


	5. Chapter 5

Lindow stared in amusement at the young man sitting across from him on the couch. "You know Soma," he began as he took another long drink from his can of beer. "It isn't that I do not enjoy your company but I am assuming there is a reason you came here today?"

Soma's grip tightened slightly on the can of juice. "There…there is a reason…" he mumbled.

Lindow really wished he had something to record this moment. The rude and snappy Soma was actually nervous! It was actually quite funny, and he really wanted to make a joke about it. However, if he did, he had the feeling Soma would just storm out for now and come back later to try again. Maybe.

Lindow leaned back on the couch. "Let me guess, this has something to do with Aria right?"

Soma jumped slightly. "Maybe…" he mumbled.

"I never thought I would see the day when you come visit me about love advice." Lindow wiped a fake tear from his eye. "You are making me so proud."

"Shut up," snapped Soma. He shook his head. "Forgot it, I'm out of here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on!" Lindow put up his hands in surrender. "Look, I'm sorry about that comment, forgive me alright? What did you come here for? I'm sure I can help you out."

Soma was halfway up but thankfully he decided to settle back down on the couch. "Uh, how should I put this…"

Lindow wondered what kind of advice Soma needed in the first place. The two had been going out for about four months now. They weren't very lovely-dovey in person (as least compared to him and Sakuya) but they did send looks to each other here and there. Lindow did not doubt they were the type that was more romantic behind closed doors. Aria, so she could keep her Captain-facade in front of everyone and Soma would just get embarrassed by that kind of stuff in public.

Whoa, was Soma trying to ask him advice for going all the way? No way, it had to be too soon for that. Well, what did he know about their relationship in the first place? Maybe they were ready to take that kind of step.

"I was wondering what I should do next with her…" he mumbled.

Lindow stared at Soma blankly. "Come again? 'Do next'?"

Soma nodded. His hand reached up and tugged the edge of his hood down to cover his eyes.

"Yes…do next…" mumbled Soma.

Lindow gestured for Soma to elaborate. "I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about Soma. Are you asking for where to go on dates? Or are we talking more…intimate here?"

Soma stared down at his feet.

"Come on Soma, I need more details here. What are you asking?" It was like pulling teeth! Or trying to shoot a Zygote out of the sky. He was still trying to get the hang of shooting when his God Arc was in gun-mode.

"Well Aria and I have been going out for four months…"

Lindow really wanted to make a comment of how everyone knew that, but he refrained. Soma was getting there…albeit really slowly.

"Ummm and I'm not sure what we're supposed to do next…"

Supposed to do?

"I mean, we do go on dates and stuff. I mean, the best we can do, which is pretty much missions with just the two of us. I help her out with the paperwork and remind her to go to sleep and whatnot...we spend time together in the Den too..." He growled in frustration. "I feel like we're behind on this stuff. The Arius Nova incident really pushed things back and our relationship was on hold for a while due to that. Sure, we picked it up afterwards and started doing those kinds of things but...I feel like it's not enough."

"It sounds like you are doing fine," said Lindow. They were both high position God Eaters with other responsibilities. Aria as the First Unit Captain and Soma oversaw the cleanup of the Arda Nova remnants. It was surprising that those two had any time for each other. Lindow was grateful that Soma was not looking for _really_ intimate details. He did not want to go through a birds and the bees talk with Soma yet (actually he hoped he never had to do it). He laughed. "I mean it's not like you two haven't kissed yet."

No response from Soma.

Lindow sat up and stared. "Wait…really? You two haven't yet?"

Soma again tugged his hood down.

Oh boy. Now Lindow could see the problem loud and clear. "Why haven't you?"

"It…it isn't that easy," snapped Soma. "She's…uh…."

No wonder Soma came to see him. Lindow already could tell what was going on here. Aria was the type of person that put the needs of others before her own. Since she had liked Soma for a lot longer than he liked her she probably was a-okay with kissing him. Heck, she probably would do it too. That is, if Soma gave her permission. That girl was too accommodating to others. She was probably waiting for Soma to be okay with the idea and to make the first move himself.

"It really isn't that hard Soma," said Lindow. "Just kiss her, she will be okay with it, I assure you."

"But…" Soma mumbled something under his breath.

Lindow leaned forward in his seat. "Sorry, I didn't hear that, what did you say?"

"What if I do it wrong?" he mumbled, a little louder than before at least.

Lindow bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. The Soma from a year ago would never care about this stuff. It was quite interesting how one girl (well, two if Shio was included) changed his outlook on life as well as other people. Heck, the only reason they were having this conversation now was because of her.

"Trust me Soma, you will be fine. Just make the scene romantic and just go for it. You can at least manage that right?" Lindow snapped his fingers as he thought of an idea. "Hey, I have a brilliant idea of when you can do it."

Before Lindow could state his idea, there was a knock on the door. "Open up Lindow, I come in Tsubaki's name."

Lindow could see Soma's eyes widen in panic. It was using every ounce of his being to not laugh. "Coming Aria!" He opened the door and Aria stepped in the room. "What can I do for you today?"

Aria put her hands on her hips. "Tsubaki sent me to ask for the progress reports for Annette and Fredrico. You did remember to do them right?"

"Of course, I have them right here."

Aria swiped them from Lindow's hand and quickly looked them over with a critical eye. Sheesh, he only half-assed them once. Over-reacting much? Satisfied with what she saw, she lifted her head and nodded. "Thank you Lindow. Oh Soma, I didn't see you there."

She looked back and forth between Lindow and Soma. "You two are a rare pairing."

"We're just having some guy talk," laughed Lindow. He could feel Soma's eyes shooting daggers at him. He silently told Soma to relax. There was no way he was going to spill what Soma had told him to Aria. At least, not yet. "Anyway, you're going to the party next week right?"

"I have to go." Aria ran her fingers through her short hair. "It's an important gathering of many of Fenrir's branches. Tsubaki said a lot of them want to meet me. And I'll have to remind you that you need to attend as well. You aren't going to be getting out of it. If you do, I'm going to put you on a mission to fight a Venus by yourself."

"Sheesh Aria, you need to stop hanging around my sister, you're getting more vicious as a result." Lindow sighed and shook his head.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I have to get these back to Tsubaki before a vein bursts. This was due last week Lindow."

"Hey now, I'm a busy man!" protested Lindow.

"You're coming by to hang out tonight, right Soma?" Aria peered around Lindow.

"Uh…yeah…"

Aria blinked but she didn't comment on Soma's weird tone. Instead she bid them farewell before walking out.

"Well there you go, a perfect chance to kiss her."

"Huh?"

"During this party of course. Obviously the everyday setting is not working out well so do it while everyone is dressed up-make her night special. Perfect right?"

"I…I wasn't planning on going…"

Lindow stared at Soma. Sure the party was not required for most God Eaters but everyone was still going because parties were so uncommon around here. There would be free beer for crying out loud! "You are going to leave Aria and let her fend for herself?"

"What are you talking about?" he snapped. "It isn't like a mission."

"Sure you might not want to go, but she has to go. There are going to be a ton of people from other branches there and they probably want to attempt to scout her to join their branches or something. And you're just going to leave her to fend for herself?"

"Stop making it sound more dramatic than it actually is," snapped Soma. "Aria can take care of herself."

"Yes she probably can but perhaps she wants you to be there with her? Plus, like I said, it is the perfect time to kiss her if you want to do it. "

Soma got to his feet. "Thanks but no thanks," he growled before leaving the room.

Lindow wasn't too worried though. He had planted the seeds in Soma's mind. Aria would water them without meaning to tonight.

***

"Right on time Soma, I just finished making tea!" Aria picked up one of the steaming mugs of the herbal tea blend and handed it to Soma.

He silently took it from her before walking over to the couch. "There seems to be more papers here than yesterday," he commented.

"I'm helping Dr. Sakaki organize some information from an experiment of his too," admitted Aria. She could already feel a lecture coming on from Soma of how she should take better care of herself and not take on too much work.

"Resonance research?" Soma picked up one of the papers and quickly scanned it over. "There are a lot of numbers here."

"I'm helping him out by coding the data." Aria took a seat next to Soma. She reached over him and grabbed a few pages from the end of the table. "Other than the data from me, Alisa, Fredrico, Annette and Lindow, Dr. Sakaki was able to get a bit more data from some of the other branches with New-Types. He is going to be doing a presentation at the party next week about resonance, but he is really behind on getting the data ready to go."

"I'm still impressed how you manage to do this and your God Eater duties."

Aria shrugged. "I'm good at multi-tasking I guess? Anyway, this page here shows you how to code everything. You can take half and I'll take half and we'll code it out. That fine by you?"

Soma nodded before getting to work.

Despite them being silent, Aria was quite content with just silently coding next to him. At first, they had done this sort of thing sitting on either end of the couch but slowly Aria had moved herself closer and closer until she was where she was now, right next to him. It actually surprised her at first when he had offered to help her out with the paperwork but it made her happy. It meant more time together.

 _Look at me, actually thinking about stuff like this_. She never thought, a few months ago, she would end up dating Soma. Sure their relationship was progressing at a snail's pace but Aria was content with it. Soma did not have many social relations until she joined the God Eaters, he needed time to learn and get used to it. She had waited this long, she was fine waiting for a while longer. In a way, she had to thank the Arius Nova for that. Soma had become a lot more open with everyone and now he was not as bitter about what his father had done. It may have done nothing for their relationship (which was barely off the ground when it happened) but it seemed to have been a good thing for Soma.

"So…" he began.

Aria looked up. She was about halfway through her pile. "Yes?" She noticed his cup of tea was empty. "Oh, let me refill your cup."

"It's fine Aria, you don't need to brew another pot."

"Don't worry, I made extra this time. I knew I was going to be up for a while." Aria took the cup to the small kitchenette. She checked to make sure the tea in the pot was still warm before she poured another cup for Soma.

"Uh, you're actually going to that party?"

What brought this on? Aria returned to the couch and handed the cup to Soma. "Of course. Like I said when I was in Lindow's room, I kinda have to go." She rubbed the back of her head and laughed. "Apparently the other branches want to meet me. I'll also a key part in Dr. Sakaki's research so I need to go for that reason too." Why was Soma asking about this?

"Will…uh, will you be okay?"

Aria tilted her head slightly. That was an odd thing to say. "Uh of course? Everyone else will be there." She giggled as she remembered something. "You weren't there but Alisa was freaking out because she didn't have anyone to accompany her to the party. In the end, Lindow just told her to invite Kota because Kota didn't have someone to go with either. You should have _seen_ how Kota's face turned red as Alisa invited but not invited him to go." She shook her head. "It was actually pretty cute I would admit."

The story did not seem to have the desired effect on Soma. Instead he seemed to get more agitated. "But you don't have anyone to accompany you?"

Aria shrugged. "No but it doesn't matter much to me." Sure she could have asked Brendan or Karl to take her as both of them were going solo but that would be too weird. Better for her to just go by herself.

"I…I'll go with you…"

"Eh?" Aria stared at Soma for a few seconds as her mind tried to process what he had said. "Oh Soma, you don't have to come," she said quickly. "I know you don't like functions like this, there would be a lot of people there so you don't have to go for my sake, really!"

"No, I…I'll go." He reached over and grasped her hands tightly in his own. "I'll be fine. I'll go."

The way he was staring at her made her blush and she dropped her eyes to his hands over hers. He was still getting used to the human contact so she was the one that usually initiated any real contact between the two of them. So the fact that he had held her hands while saying that he would go meant a lot to her. She didn't want to admit it but the party really made her nervous. It was one thing to speak to Tsubaki and Dr. Sakaki, it was another to speak to the heads of the other branches along with other God Eaters.

"You're thinking something," he murmured.

She looked up in surprise. She didn't know how Soma had gotten so good at figuring out when she was thinking something negative. Or maybe she was more relaxed to showing her inner feelings when they were alone together. She shook her head. "Don't worry, it's nothing." She reluctantly pulled her hands out of his. "Anyway, let's finish getting this done for Dr. Sakaki. He said he would give me a bottle of Love Juice if I didn't have it done by tomorrow."

***

Soma adjusted the collar of the tie around his neck. The damn thing was choking him. How did people wear these so tight!?

"Seriously, I feel like a dad sending his kids off on their first date," sighed Lindow.

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Kota, putting his hands on his hips. For once his spiky orange hair was tamed and slicked back.

Soma just silently tugged at the sleeve edge of the black suit jacket he wore. This felt so constricting! Why did he decide to go through with this after all? Sure, it was great that Lindow had helped him out in getting Soma something to wear but he had to wear this all night?

"I mean what I said, you two need to look sharp. You're just an accessory to your date. The girl is the real star of the show," instructed Lindow.

"I like how you are saying that but a lot of them want to see you too," Kota pointed out.

"They want to see my arm more than they want to see me." Lindow rolled his eyes. His red arm was covered by the sleeve of his jacket but the sleeve had been tailored to be large enough to cover it like his wedding tuxedo was.

"Seriously Soma, how are we going to get through the night being accessories?"

Soma ignored Kota. He adjusted the tie again. Why was the thing so damn tight!?

Lindow let out a long sigh. "At least we just need to go down to the residential section…"

Soma was surprised to find out that the Far East Branch was the one holding the party. Of course, he never paid attention to that kind of thing before. It apparently had something to do with the Far East Branch having the most to show off this time or something. He didn't really care. He just hoped to make it through the night.

"Seriously, how long do girls take in getting ready?" whined Kota. "I mean it's not like we're going into battle or anything."

Lindow sighed again and shook his head. "You have a lot to learn about girls Kota. A lot to learn."

Soma silently leaned against a wall. The plan was to meet by the elevator so they could head down together. The girls had gone into Sakuya's room and they hadn't come out in about an hour or so now. What in the world could they be doing in there?

"Don't teach Kota weird things!" scolded Sakuya as she stepped out of her room. She was wearing a slinky black dress that hugged every curve of her body.

"Are you being an embarrassment already Kota?" Alisa stepped out and crossed her arms. Unlike Sakuya that went with a floor length gown, Alisa's was pretty short, only going to mid-thigh in a pale gray color.

"Wow Alisa…you look…" Kota was speechless.

Lindow met his wife and gave her a kiss. "Where's our fearless Captain?"

Sakuya looked back and so did Alisa.

"Come on now Aria," said Alisa. "We did all that work, you have to show it off."

"I'm trying!" came Aria's strained voice. "These things are hard to walk in!"

Soma's breath hitched as Aria stumbled out of Sakuya's room. She was wearing a strapless red dress that made her…neck, look very nice. The bottom of the dress hit her ankles. It didn't have the long slit that Sakuya's had or the bare back like Alisa's but it fit her. Her hair was up (Soma realized this was the first time he had seen her with her hair up) in one of those updos that girls did (he did not know the names to them). Her face looked slightly different and it took him a few seconds to realize that she was wearing makeup.

"I think she shocked him silly," laughed Lindow.

Aria slowly made her way over to Soma. He noticed that the strappy shoes she wore had a slight heel to them. "Uh hi," she said. She gave him her happy smile. "You look great tonight! It's weird seeing you-seeing everyone dressed up like this!"

"Uh…hi…" he replied. He knew he should say something back about what she was wearing but he just could not form coherent words.

"So? Shall we go? I'm sure if we're late, Tsubaki is going to kill us," said Lindow.

"Yeah, let's go," laughed Aria. She pressed the button for the elevator. "First Unit, move out!"

***

The elevator slowly made its way downward to the residential section.

"I'm going to eat so much food!" Kota said in excitement.

"Really now, you better not be an embarrassment," sighed Alisa.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Aria asked Soma. She had probably noticed how he kept adjusting his tie every couple of seconds.

"I'll be fine," mumbled Soma.

"Well don't force yourself. If you want to get out of there, just go, I won't feel offended."

Soma shook his head. He would be fine. He would make himself be fine, at least for her sake.

The elevator doors opened to the residential section. Soma was immediately bombarded with the sound and sight of a party atmosphere. There were people everywhere of every shape and size. Many, of course, had armlets of various colors attached to an arm, signaling their God Eater status.

"I spy the beer!" Lindow said in happiness.

"Really? Already?" Sakuya sighed but followed her husband.

Kota seemed to have spotted the food table as he made a mad dash for it. Alisa rolled her eyes in the direction of Aria before following him.

"There's a lot of people…" mumbled Soma. His hand was twitching slightly, and he wished he had his hood. Aria slipped her hand in his and squeezed it in reassurance.

"Just stick to the edges and you'll be fine," she said.

"I have taken down powerful Aragami, I'll be fine."

She gave him her wide signature smile. "Of course. I believe in you."

He looked away in embarrassment. He could feel his face heating up.

"Anyway, what do you-"

"Excuse me, you are Aria aren't you?"

A female God Eater approached the duo. From the black and gold armlet and her age, she was obviously a retired god eater from a different branch.

"Yes, that's me."

It was like a fountain erupted. It seemed like people around her swiveled in her direction and began speaking to her, bombarding her with questions and comments. Soma pulled back as she began engaging them in conversation. How she managed to keep track what was going on he had no idea. There was at least ten people talking to her and she was talking back to them.

"It's like both of our dates have been kidnapped."

Sakuya joined Soma against the back wall. Like Aria, Lindow had his own crowd of people

Soma remembered what Lindow had told him before. Would he need to help her out? "Do you think Aria needs help?"

Sakuya stared at him for a few moments and then smiled. "No, I think she's got it for now. Both Aria and Lindow know how to handle people."

"Uh, can I have everyone's attention please?" Dr. Sakaki stood on a podium with a microphone. Behind him was a huge screen. "Thank you everyone for attending this gathering. I know many of you are excited to mingle with other God Eaters that you don't normally get to see every day. I know for the God Eaters traveling from the main land, this was a trek but I'm glad you could make it. Have some First Love Juice while you are here, it is the local delicacy.

"Anyway, enough of that. One of the great things about this gathering is showing off the research that has been gathered over the year. I will start off with my resonance research."

The screen behind Dr. Sakaki changed to a bunch of numbers and graphs. There were also pictures of all the New Type God Eaters that he has used in his research.

Soma didn't really understand what Dr. Sakaki was talking about. It was about resonance, he understood that, but other than that, the doctor referred to numbers and synchronicity rates and a bunch of other technical terms. He was able to gleam that Aria was incredibly important to the research because her resonance ability was on par to no one else. He could see how people were looking over at her. Some looked at her impressed, while others had a different kind of look. Predatory.

He didn't realize he was digging his nails into his palms until Sakuya coughed next to him.

"Relax," she murmured.

Easy for her to say. He didn't want to risk speaking though. As if Dr. Sakaki had heard Sakuya speak, he was looking at them as he continued his presentation. It took another twenty minutes and a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo for Dr. Sakaki to finally finish up.

"The various God Eaters I have used in my research are all in attendance tonight so if you have any resonance questions, you can speak to them. I hope everyone has a good time! Oh, and make sure you try the Love Juice punch!"

If the crowd was bad before in front of Aria, it was even worse now.

"Sheesh, it's like there is no point in us being here," grumbled Kota as he joined Sakuya and Soma. Since Alisa was also a New Type, it looked like the presentation sparked people to start gathering around her.

"It's like you can totally tell who is a New-Type and who isn't! I say we stand against it! Us Old-Types have some worth in us!" Kota raised his fist to the sky as if that could help prove his point. Soma thought he just looked like an idiot.

"You can do that but I'm sure they will back off soon enough." Sakuya shrugged. "They're just excited and looking to scout. I would say Aria and Lindow are much more note-worthy. I also heard some people saying they would love to have Aria at their own branch."

"What? There's no way they can scout her! Aria is our Captain!" Kota paused for a beat. "Right? She's not going to get up and leave us right? Soma! She likes us too much for that right?"

How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

"Oh man, he doesn't know! What if Aria does decide to leave?" Kota's eyes got wider. "What if she gets a better offer elsewhere? The money might be too good!"

"Really now, what are you crying about?" asked Alisa.

"Oh, looks like you have escaped the clutches," chuckled Sakuya.

Alisa made the gesture of tossing her hair over her shoulder but since her hair was up, it was odd. "They just asked a few questions about resonance and how I liked the branch. A few were from Russia but I didn't really have any connections over there. Anyway, what were you saying Kota?"

"He was crying about Aria leaving us to join another branch," put in Sakuya.

"It could happen!" protested Kota. "Our fearless captain is awesome and everyone knows it!"

"Her family is here, I don't think she has any reason to leave," Alisa pointed out.

"Oh yeah, there's that…"

Kota was placated but Soma felt the agitation rise in him. Even though Kota was super annoying about it, he was right. Aria was a great God Eater. There was a chance she could get a great offer to go elsewhere. Sure, God Eaters usually stayed in the same area but transfers did happen.

"Alright, I think I'm done sitting here feeling sorry for myself." Sakuya stretched her arms over her head.

"You go get your husband back!"

"Thanks Alisa." Sakuya disappeared into the crowd.

"So uh…you want to dance or something?" asked Kota. There was some music playing and it looked like a part of the floor was sectioned off for people wanting to dance.

Alisa made a face but before she could respond, someone tapped her on the shoulder. The man spoke to her to another language (Russian probably). Alisa cooly replied back in Russian before turning to Kota. "Never mind. Let's do it."

"Hope you have some fun too Soma!" called Kota was he was dragged away.

"Oh, you're Soma?"

It was a girl. Her looks definitely placed her as European. "You're one of the members of the First Unit right?"

"Uh yeah." Where did this girl come from? Ugh, why did Kota have to yell his name so loud?

"I heard the First Unit is the best around here. You are an Old-Type right?"

"Uh yeah…" How did this girl know so much about him?

"Oh, it's in the database," she replied with a laugh as if she could sense his confusion. "A lot of us from overseas were curious to who would be attending so we did our research."

Soma remembered Aria doing something similar. She mentioned it was good to see how other branches were doing and how strong they were. What was the point in that? It wasn't like one was going to meet any of them in everyday life (at least until this one night).

"So what's it like working with Aria anyway? I hear she's really skilled, of course you are too, your stats are amazing as well." She shook her head. "I wouldn't say I am. I've been doing it for a year but I'm still not very good at it-name's Clara by the way."

"Uh hi…" Ugh. He wished he had his hood to cover his face. Why did he think of coming?

"Soma! Sorry, sorry!" Aria scrambled over to him. In her rush, she stepped wrong and pitched forward.

Without thinking, Soma took a few steps forward and caught her before she could fall too far. Sure, she probably could have recovered herself, but it wasn't like he could let her fall in front of him could he?

"Sorry Soma. I'm not good at this heel thing." She shook her head. "I seriously wonder how Sakuya and Alisa do this on a regular basis. It's super annoying." She stood and checked herself over. "Does the messy bun look okay?"

He stared at her hair blankly. "It uh…looks a bit messy?"

"Okay, perfect. That's fine." She poked a few of the pins in her hair. "But seriously, I'm sorry for leaving you here by yourself. I thought it wouldn't take long to greet everyone but it got really crazy there…" She noticed Clara. "Oh, hi. Were you two talking?"

Soma began to panic slightly. He remembered reading one of those magazines that Lindow let him borrow that girls got jealous easily. He really did not want her to think he was flirting with Clara or anything because Aria was busy.

"No, just small talk!" Clara's eyes were open in wonder.

"Oh okay, do you mind if I kidnap him then? It would stink if I never hung out with my date at all in this party!"

"Date?" Clara's voice jumped an octave. "Yes, you can."

Aria looped her arm through his. "To the food table, I'm ravenous!" When they were a little away from Clara, she dropped her voice. "I hope it's not a problem for you that I'm holding on like this. These shoes are really annoying my feet and I'm afraid I'm going to fall on my face if we go at a slow pace."

"No, it's fine." Although was it fine? Years of dealing with people's stares made him attuned to when people were looking at him. And now a lot of people were staring at him. Scratch that, they were only staring at him because Aria was on his arm.

"Are you doing okay? You're not freaking out? I know this is way out of your element in every level."

"I'll be fine," he replied. It wasn't like he had a hard job at all. He was a-okay with hanging out against a wall and not talking to people but Aria did not have a choice. A few people had come up to her on their way to the food table but she gave out a few jokes about having the appetite of a Vajra that helped deter them away.

"Finally! Food!" She released Soma's arm and grabbed a plate.

Soma had to admit that this was a spread he had not seen in a long time. It was obvious they had pulled out all the stops to welcome the foreign God Eaters. There was also nary a giant corn on the cob in sight!

"I really wish the kids could be here to eat this. They would like this." She smiled down her large plate of food.

"Maybe you could smuggle some out. It's not like they will notice."

"Soma. Really now?" She giggled. "You are getting better at this joke thing."

He turned away. Since he had both plates of food in his hand (Aria did not want to risk dropping hers) he couldn't attempt to tug down an invisible hood.

"But still it would be nice for them to be able to see something like this," said Aria as they made their way over to the tables that had been set up on one side of the room.

Aria plopped in a seat and swiftly removed the shoes. She wiggled her exposed toes. "Freedom!"

"A…are you allowed to do that?" Did that mean he could rip off this stupid tie now?

"Alisa said I could take them off when I am sitting…or dancing. Apparently girls don't wear them when they dance."

Soma looked over at the dance floor. He didn't recognize the music, although he never did pay attention to that stuff. Everyone looked like they were having fun. He spotted Kanon's pink hair as she danced with a few other female God Eaters. Alisa and Kota were there as well. Kota was surprisingly pulling off some very random moves that either meant he had gotten some of the beer or he was just really bad at dancing.

"Do you want to join them out there?"

Aria looked up from her meal and then at the dancing. "No, that's okay."

Soma paused and looked at her. "Wait. You don't want to dance?" Out of all the things, he didn't expect that. He had geared himself up to have to get out there and "strut his stuff"(according to Lindow).

"It's fine. I'm not too big on that kind of thing, I'll just sit here and enjoy my meal and enjoy the fact that those killer shoes are not on my feet."

"Do you not know how to dance or something?"

Her chopsticks paused for a moment before she shoved rice into her mouth.

Wait…seriously?

"Out of all of the things…"

"S…shut up!" She pouted. "Jun says I have two left feet. The other children agree."

"But…but…you're so…graceful while fighting Aragami." Graceful in a demonic way but it must count for something right?

"That doesn't translate to normal things okay? Plus, I know you are forcing yourself. So hush. No dancing."

Soma leaned back in his chair. It seemed like he always found out something new about her every day.

"Stop looking at me like that, it's embarrassing."

Was that red creeping up her face? Before he could comment on that, someone cleared his throat behind him.

Soma whirled around, his hand closing into a fist out of instinct. If there was one thing he hated, it was someone sneaking up on him.

The man looked down at Soma in disinterest before focusing on Aria. "Hello. I am Alfred from the Far West branch, may I have a word with you?"

Aria straightened. In that millisecond, she was no longer Soma's girlfriend but the captain of the First Unit. "Of course, you may have a seat."

Alfred glanced over at Soma and then back at Aria.

Realizing that he was unwelcome, Soma stood. "I'm going to see who else is here," he murmured.

He saw a small crack in her captain facade. A tiny grateful smile. He gave her a small smile back before he slipped away from the table. Once he was a good distance away he turned to see Alfred was leaning over the table towards Aria. She had pushed her food to the side and was leaning over on her side too.

They were far too close for Soma's liking.

He looked away. What the hell was he doing?

"Oh Soma, there you are." Alisa looked around. "Where's Aria? Wasn't she with you? I have some people from the Russian branch that want to meet her and want me to translate."

"She's busy right now. Talking with some guy named Alfred from the Far West branch."

"Alfred?" Alisa's eyes widen. "But he's the head of that branch right?"

Soma blinked. What?

Alisa sighed. "Really Soma, you need to pay attention to this kind of stuff, it's pretty important."

"Alisa! Soma!" Kota pushed his way through the crowd with drinks in hand.

"Finally, there you are." Alisa took one of the drinks from Kota.

"You're welcome," Kota added. He shook his head. "That's not important." He lowered his voice. "So I was by the drink table, which is by the tables that everyone sits down at, and Aria was talking to someone! He looked really important."

"Yes, that was Alfred of the Far West Branch," put in Alisa.

"Yeah, whatever. What was important is that I heard Aria mentioning going out there! She is going to go to the Far West branch."

"What?" gasped Alisa.

"I know, I couldn't believe it either! I mean, I heard the Far West branch has some state of the art stuff that we don't have. So I guess it does make sense...but still!"

Soma wanted to strangle Kota. He also wanted to walk over to the table and grab Aria and get her out of there. What the hell? Had she known? Yes, that had to be the case. She had entered her "captain mode" as soon as he had introduced himself. His nails dug into his palms. Why the hell did she keep something like this secret?

"Soma, are you okay?" asked Alisa. She reached out but pulled her hand back at the last moment.

He couldn't be in this stuffy atmosphere any longer.

He ripped the tie from his throat as he mashed the button to the elevator. He headed up to the main floor and stormed out. It was quiet. One of the operators was at her station but she was dozing off. It was late and God Eaters have not been sent out tonight.

He collapsed on one of the couches by the large windows. He stared at the reflection of himself. His hair was slicked back, his clothes too prim and sharp. It didn't look like him at all, just a stranger. He gritted his teeth and rubbed his hands through his hair, returning it to a shadow of the messy state it usually was in. He would need to take a shower to get rid of all the stuff Lindow had put in it.

"Damn it, damn it." He wanted to hit something. If only there was an Aragami to fight. Hell, maybe if he looked he could find one. It probably would not be worth the trouble that would come his way when Aria found out.

Aria.

Damn it.

What the hell was she thinking? Was it going to be like Ren and Maria, where she left without telling anyone? Or would she wait until the last second? What about the First Unit? Sure, Lindow could lead but he wasn't her. They all followed Aria without question. Without her… without her…

"What the hell will I do without you around?"

He buried his head in his hands. He hated this. He hated all the emotions that welled up within him. He couldn't name them all. He had never felt most of them before. What was this?

"Soma?"

His head jerked up. From the window reflection, he saw Aria standing behind him. She was carrying her shoes by the straps in one hand.

"Aria…" He tore his eyes away from the reflection. He knew he probably looked like a mess right now.

"Soma…Alisa told me you ran out of there. Are you okay?" She took a couple cautionary steps towards him. "Was it too much for you?"

Soma cracked a sarcastic smile. Always concerned about others. That was Aria in a nutshell. She was the strongest God Eater of this branch. He knew others had wanted to scout her. He knew she would be able to fend them off. And yet, she knew about this Alfred guy and the Far West. She had already made up her mind where to go.

"Soma…really…are you okay?" She was close now. He could sense her reaching out to him.

He stood. "When were you going to tell us."

"What?"

"When were you going to tell us?" he snapped as he turned around to face her.

She looked taken aback. "What?" she repeated

"When were you going to tell us Aria!? Were you just going to vanish like before?"

"Tell you…" The look of confusion was still there. "Soma…what…"

"Do you really not trust us at all!? I thought we were over this already Aria."

"Soma, really, I have no idea what you are talking about!" she snapped.

Soma paused. She had used her captain tone with him. She let out a long sigh. "Soma. Just tell me what is going on," she said slowly.

"You're going to the Far West branch right?"

Aria blinked. "How did…" She groaned. "Kota. I noticed he was right there. I didn't think he overheard though. Jeez, that wasn't supposed to be announced until tomorrow." She moved to run her fingers through her hair but it got stuck in her bun. Grumbling, she removed her hair from the bun and started pulling out pins. "I cannot think with my hair like this…"

"It was supposed to be announced tomorrow?"

Aria nodded. "Tsubaki told me earlier that the Far West branch had an influx of Venuses recently. Alfred, the branch head wanted to speak with me because Tsubaki and Dr. Sakaki planned on loaning out members of the First Unit to help them cull the problem."

"Members…"

"Yeah, I'll be going along with Alisa and you. Sakuya will be in charge of the First Unit when we are gone and Kota's staying back as well. Soma?"

Soma collapsed back on the couch. Damn Kota. Really now. Why did he think Aria would do something like that?

"Soma, I would never leave this branch." She sat down next to him and lifted her feet and curled them under her body. "This is my home, plus I would never, never leave without mentioning it to you guys. We just wanted to have everything set in stone before telling everyone."

Soma rested his head on the back of the couch and rested his arm over his face. "Now I feel like an idiot."

She giggled.

He lifted his arm to look at her.

"Sorry, sorry for laughing. It's just…I'm happy."

"Happy?"

"Happy that you care so much. Happy that you're here to help keep me in line and stop being dumb." She nodded with a smile. "I'm getting better at this whole emotion thing but you help me a lot. Gah, how many pins did Alisa and Sakuya shove in my hair!?" She ran her fingers through her hair and dropped the pins on a pile next to her.

The lights in the room were dim due to the late hour and the fact that no one was on duty. The moon was bright tonight and it lit up the room pretty well.

He slowly sat up and watched Aria as she pulled pin upon pin out of her hair.

Soma took a couple of slow breaths. He swallowed. He tried to remember everything Lindow said but it just would not come to mind.

"Aria?"

She looked up. "Hmmm? What is it Soma?"

"Can…can I…"

"Can you what?"

He looked away. The moonlight made her look ethereal in a way. Was this how it was done? Was this how one felt the first time?

"Soma?"

Aria had to be okay with this right? They had been together for four months. Sure it probably wasn't a normal four months. They had been busy with God Eater things, but still, it was normal besides that right?

"Can I kiss you?" he blurted out.

Her eyes widen but then she grinned. "You didn't need to ask. Yes, yes you may."

He felt like he put ten pounds of pressure on his back. Seriously, why did he ask? If he just did it, he had the element of surprise. Then if he did do it wrong, it would already be done and there would be nothing to it. He could deal with the aftermath. This pretense though. Ugh. Could he do it?

She giggled before leaning in and quickly kissed him on the lips before she sat back. "There. Better now?"

Soma stared at her for a few moments in shock. He could feel his face heating up as he turned away. Where was his hood when he needed it!? He lightly touched his lips. She…she had been right there a few moments before.

He glanced over his shoulder. Aria was looking at the ground, her fingers touching her lips. Eyes slightly wide. If he had to guess, was she feeling the same embarrassment about this?

"Come on, don't look at me like that. It was my first kiss too you know."

First kiss? Soma felt another wave of embarrassment. "I... I’m sorry." Wasn't this important for girls? Lindow said that right?

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"I…I did it wrong…I think…"

"Did it? Well, for the record, I did it, so it would be my fault. Gah, just talking about this is so weird." She scratched her now free and messy hair. "Holy crap, I found another pin!" She dropped it onto the pile before she slid closer to Soma. She smiled at him. "We can try again you know. Maybe it will be better the second time."

He didn't think. He just went for it. It was awkward at first. He wasn't sure what he was doing and it didn't look like Aria did either. At the end he started to get the hang of it. No wonder Lindow talked about this as a good thing. It _felt_ good.

They separated to get air and Aria laughed. "I think we got it."

"Yeah…"

Aria put some of her hair behind her ear. Her face was flushed. "Although I would love to stay up here with you, they are probably missing me down there."

That damn party. He wished they could stay up here on this moonlight-bathed couch doing…this thing.

Aria put her feet back in the shoes and stood.

Soma stood as well. "I'll take you back down."

"Are you sure?"

Soma nodded. Now that he knew she wasn't going anywhere, why should he avoid it? Sure he disliked being around so many people but Aria would still need to be there. "I can't let my fearless captain go into battle alone."

Aria laughed. "Alright then."

They got into the elevator and Soma pushed the button.

"You know..." said Aria. "I think you could pull off a white coat."

Soma looked back at her in confusion. "What?"

She grinned. "Just talking out loud." She leaned against his arm. "I really hope you decide to come along with me."

"What are you talking about?"

She smiled. "Dr. Sakaki, Tsubaki and I have been discussing things for the future."

"Things for the future?"

She shook her head. "Nothing to worry about now. And don't worry. I won't be disappearing without saying anything."

"I'm going to keep you to that."

"Oh crap."

"What is it?" Soma looked around. Was there something that she was reacting to?

She ran her fingers through her hair. "What are they going to think…"

"What? Think what?"

She shook her head. "It shouldn't be a problem…hopefully…"

"What shouldn't be a problem?"

She shrugged. "Whatever. What will be, will be." She set her shoulders back. "I'm the captain of the First Unit. I do not need to explain anything."

Soma didn't really understand what was going on but he knew he would follow her anywhere. He held out his arm as the elevator doors opened and they stepped back into the party, together.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place after the events of rage burst. Also features my GE2 player character as well.

"And then the boy named Ren said goodnight to his family and went to sleep."

"That was an amazing story!" Ren bounced up and down in his seat. He looked to his left. "Mommy, wasn't that a great story?"

Sakuya chuckled and put an arm around her son. "Yes it was." She looked up at the story teller. "Now will the Ren in front of me actually take the nap as he promised?"

Ren frowned and looked back to the right, at his self-proclaimed favorite story teller. His eyes were wide and pleading.

"You did promise your mother you would," said Aria.

He grumbled but rested his head in his mother's lap and closed his eyes. A few minutes later he fell fast asleep.

Sakuya let out a long sigh in relief. "Can you please move in with me and be charge of getting Ren to take naps? You seriously have the magic to get kids to go to sleep."

Aria laughed softly so she wouldn't wake him. "I helped take care of a lot of kids growing up, you gain a lot of tricks that way."

"And I am so grateful for that. Otherwise I would have torn my hair out before we got to the Branch."

"That would make an interesting reunion though," Aria pointed out.

Sakuya shook her head.

Tsubaki slowly made her way to the back of the helicopter where the three of them were sitting. "We're almost there," she said. "Maybe another half an hour or so. We need to make a small detour though. There's a Unit fighting some Aragami at the Forgotten Carrier."

Aria perked up.

Tsubaki sighed. "Before you ask, it seems like they were not expecting the amount of Aragami that have arrived on the scene. The driver thought it would safe for us to go around it just in case an Aragami gets the idea of attacking the chopper."

"Will the Unit be okay?" asked Sakuya.

Tsubaki shrugged. "Not sure. The driver doesn't know who it is-Aria, sit back down."

Aria was halfway out of her seat. "We're almost to the Forgotten Carrier right? Just drop me off on the edge and go on."

"Don't bother trying to change her mind Tsubaki," chuckled Sakuya. "We know how well that goes."

Tsubaki sighed. "Sadly, I do." She turned to go talk to the driver.

While Aria grabbed her God Arc from storage, Sakuya clipped Ren into his own seat and put the oxygen mask on the sleeping boy. "Be careful out there."

"I don't think you need to tell me that," laughed Aria.

The helicopter climbed higher. Aria went to the back of the chopper and opened the door. They were right over one end of the Forgotten Carrier. This was probably as close as the driver was willing to go. A few Kongous were directly below her. Perfect.

"I'll see you guys in a little bit!" Aria jumped out of the helicopter. The wind whipped around her as she transformed her God Arc into the devouring form and devoured as she landed on a Kongou. The creature screamed and fell, the inertia from her fall as well as her God Arc stabbing it, killed it instantly.

A girl with curious cat-like black hair wielding a hammer, jumped at Aria's sudden arrival.

"Whoa! Where did you come from!?"

Aria took in the Aragami in the area. "Just came to help," she replied before jumping into the fray.

***

"So uh, why are we here again?" asked Kota.

"Don't ask me," grumbled Soma. Today had been a weird day. He wanted to back to work on studying the Retro Oracle Cells but Sakaki had said that Soma needed to be up on the roof with the rest of Cradle to welcome the guests that would be arriving today via helicopter.

What kind of guests required the Cradle Unit to be here? And Kota as well! Sure he was a member but it was still so strange.

"I tried to prod the Old Man for more info but I got nothing." Lindow scratched the back of his head.

"Maybe it's a practical joke of some kind?" asked Kota. "What if everyone else is waiting inside and timing how long we stay out here being gullible!?"

"I really don't think Dr. Sakaki would do that," Alisa pointed out.

Soma rolled his eyes. He could have made real progress by now. What-

"Holy crap, look guys! There's a helicopter!" Kota pointed to the sky.

"Well, would you look at that," said Lindow.

The helicopter touched down. The door on the side opened. A familiar young woman with black hair stepped out first.

"Sakuya!?" Lindow stared in disbelief.

"Daddy!" Someone inside of the helicopter handed Ren to Sakuya. She put him down and the little boy ran to his father.

Lindow swept the boy up. "Oh hello there little man! Look at how big you've grown!" His claw-arm hugged Sakuya.

Tsubaki stepped out of the helicopter.

"Geez sis, you're here too!? What is this, an Amamiya family reunion?" Lindow laughed and hugged his sister.

"It's great to see you guys again." Sakuya turned to the other members of the Cradle Unit.

"It's great to see you too Sakuya," said Alisa. "What are you doing here though?"

"We came by for a little visit and a change of scenery. Plus Ren was missing his dad."

"It's great to see you but why did we have to come here?" grumbled Soma. Sure it was nice to see them again but he had been stuck waiting here for the helicopter. He could have gotten so much work done and said hello later!

Tsubaki and Sakuya exchanged looks.

"Well, it's because Aria was supposed to be with us," said Sakuya.

"What do you mean by supposed to?" Soma asked slowly.

"That girl jumped out of the helicopter to assist the God Eaters working at the Forgotten Carrier," sighed Tsubaki.

Everyone (but Ren) exchanged looks.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Alisa.

"Why am I not surprised?" Kota shook his head. "Seriously, you can't take that girl anywhere."

Lindow laughed. "Our fearless captain had to make a grand showing of things."

Soma had to agree. But he wasn't really surprised either. That was just the kind of person Aria was. It still pissed him off though. "What Unit is there?"

"I think the Blood Unit if I remember correctly," said Alisa.

"Well, if it is the Blood Unit, they should be back soon," said Kota. "Should we wait here then?"

"You guys can do that," said Sakuya. "I want to get Ren settled."

"I'll go with you," said Lindow. He had not put down Ren during the whole exchange.

***

Kaiya had been involved with a lot of strange things in her time as a God Eater. A God Eater falling out of the sky was definitely now on the top ten list! The Aragami around them were dead so they converged together. Ciel had already called in a chopper so they had time.

"You were amazing out there!" said Nana to the mysterious God Eater. "You were devouring left and right and taking things down like no tomorrow!”

The woman laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Really, it wasn't anything like that."

"No really, it was pretty amazing. You might be even stronger than our Captain," said Gil.

Kaiya stared at Gil in mock horror. "Really? After everything we've been through!?"

"I don't know Gil. When Kaiya activates her Blood Rage, nothing can stop her!" Nana pointed out.

"Oh, you guys are the Blood Unit!" she said suddenly. She looked around. "Well dang, you guys didn't need my help then."

Huh? She knew who they were? Kaiya didn't recognize her though. The white coat with gold trim told her this woman was a Cradle Unit member. Other than her armlet that signaled her for a New Type, there were no other features to give Kaiya an idea of who she was.

"I'm sorry but we haven't gotten your name," spoke up Ciel.

"Oh, sorry. You guys haven't met me yet but I know a lot about you." She rested her fist over her heart. "Corporal Aria of the Cradle Unit."

"Aria!?" Kaiya squeaked. Her Unit had the same look of disbelief. All of them had heard the stories about her. This was Aria!? No wonder she fought like she did! "I…I…"

"Oh no," murmured Gil.

"I…I'm your biggest fan!" Kaiya ran over and grabbed Aria's free hand. "I…I heard so much about you and I've been wanting to meet you. You fight as amazing as everyone says you do."

Ciel put her hand on Kaiya's shoulder. "Maybe you should give her some space. I'm sorry about that Captain. Ours can be very…expressive."

"Oh, no it's fine," Aria replied. "And you can call me Aria."

"As you wish," said Ciel.

"Oh, and if you guys mind, can I ride your chopper back with you. Mine kind of left me here."

Kaiya nodded. "Of course!"

Kaiya couldn't believe this! She got to ride a helicopter with Aria! Apparently, she was going to arrive unannounced and surprise the Cradle Unit but when she saw that the Blood Unit was in trouble she had to help them. Sure, Kaiya knew they could handle it but still! What a way to meet a legend! What surprised her even more was that Aria seemed to know all about them! After giving names, she correctly named everyone's blood power and asked a few questions on how it worked. Ciel was excited when she realized Aria shared the same level of interest in tactical work as her.

She wished the chopper ride would last forever but of course it could not. When they touched down, Kaiya noticed that a few members of the Cradle Unit were waiting for them.

She was the first to hop out and saw Soma approach the chopper. "Hi Soma."

"Hi," he replied gruffly. His focus was on the chopper door. He looked very angry.

Maybe she should warn Aria to run?

However, it was too late. All of her Blood Unit was out of the chopper, so Aria jumped out. Her eyes met Soma and she froze.

"Uh…hi Soma? Fancy seeing you here."

"What in the world were you thinking, jumping out of a chopper!?" he snapped. "You could have hurt yourself or worse!"

"I knew what I was doing," she replied.

"Still! You need to be more careful! There was no reason for you to do that! The Blood Unit could have handled it. You don’t need to jump into every fight and get involved."

"And here he goes again," said Kota.

"I feel kind of bad for her," whispered Nana.

Soma sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Sometimes I really wonder if you think before you act."

"Soma, you know I do."

He stared at her. And then he did something Kaiya never expected him to do.

He hugged her, with his face buried into her shoulder.

Kaiya's mouth dropped open in shock. Her Blood Unit had the same reaction. Kota and Alisa did not seem bothered by it though.

If Kaiya wasn't so hyper-aware she would not have heard him say softly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," she replied.

"Alright Soma, that's enough." Alisa clapped her hands. "Don't keep Aria for yourself. We want to see her too!"

Soma, as if he realized where he was, released her and stepped away like she was on fire. He stared at the ground. Wait. Was he blushing!?

"It's nice to see you too Alisa!" Aria and Alisa shared a hug.

"You're not going to believe it but the Bugarally movie is going to be on tomorrow night! We should watch it!" Kota and Aria fist bumped.

"Of course," Aria replied with a laugh.

"Kaiya, we should go." Ciel lightly grabbed her Captain's arm.

"Huh? Oh right." Kaiya walked with the rest of her unit towards the elevator. She gave them one final look and saw them all laughing, even Soma! She had a feeling that things would get so much more interesting now!

***

"And then bam! I shot the Gawain straight through the heart!" Kota stood proud, tall and pointed to the ceiling of the lounge to prove his point.

"Really, it wasn't like that at all," sighed Alisa.

"It was close!" protested Kota.

"Captain…I landed the final blow," Erina pointed out.

Kota hung his head. "You guys…"

Aria laughed.

"Are we doing okay on food?" Mitsumi walked over to check on them.

"Looks like we're doing okay for now. Thanks," said Lindow.

The lounge been turned into a party room to celebrate Aria (and per her insistence, Sakuya) returning to the Den for a time. The only members of the Far East that were not on active duty was the Cradle Unit. Every now and then members of the other units would come in to say hello and to share a few words with her. She was glad to see everyone was doing okay.

"I love the food you make," said Sakuya. Tsubaki was taking care of Ren for the night so she could be at the party with everyone else. "I'm a bit jealous that everyone gets to eat this food all of the time."

"Oh uh thank you," Mutsumi looked away shyly.

"You're doing some good work here Mitsumi, keep it up," Aria said with a wide grin.

Mutsumi nodded happily and returned to her counter.

"You guys are all doing okay right?" asked Aria. Her eyes darkened. "I'm sorry I wasn't here during the Spiral Tree incident." She had been on the mainland when she had found out what had happened. She wanted to drop everything and fly back to the Far East but Tsubaki stopped her. There was no way she was going to make it back in time. She had known that but still. When she had finally gotten confirmation that everything went well, she breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to call everyone, but her mission was not complete. Finally getting to see everyone today alive and well had taken that weight off her shoulders.

"Don't worry, we were okay here," said Kota "Although it did get a little crazy, the Blood Unit took care of everything."

"You really need to see the Sacred Ground in person Aria, it's quite amazing!" said Alisa.

"I really want to." Aria had seen the pictures.

"I'll take you there," said Soma.

"Why am I not surprised!" laughed Lindow.

"Oh be quiet!" Sakuya glared at her husband.

"I need to get research samples!" protested Soma.

Aria had to smile. It was nice to see that his habit of looking at the ground when he was embarrassed has not changed since she was gone. She slipped her hand in his. "I would like that."

"A true knight of chivalry! You Soma are someone that I need to look up too!" said Emil.

"Please don't," Soma sighed.

The party continued for as long as they could let it but still give enough time for the members to get some sleep and return to work in the morning. Even with the party over, the group returned to their rooms together, as if no one really wanted it to end.

"You need to tell me your secrets on how to stay on top of the paperwork, you promise right?" asked Alisa.

Aria laughed. "Of course, I promise." Alisa went into her room and now it was down to just Aria and Soma.

Without a word, she walked towards the room she had been given for her stay at the Far East. The room she had when she was Captain had been handed down to Kota so she had to stay in one of the guest rooms.

She entered the room and noticed her stuff was already there. "Oh yay!" She hurried over to one of the bags and pulled out the small canister of tea leaves. "Give me a few minutes and I'll get the tea whipped up!"

He chuckled and sat down on the couch. It reminded her of the old days. Back when she was the Captain of the First Unit and they would have chats in her room at night. That days usually ended with him insisting she go to bed instead of doing paperwork.

Once the tea was ready she joined him on the couch. She leaned her head on his shoulder and entwined her fingers with his. "How have you been?"

"Fine," he replied. "We found the Kyuubi and got the Retro Oracle Cells. There's so much potential. It's only just begun, and I know it can be used for so much."

She smiled as he continued to talk about the oracle cells. He sounded so excited, like a little kid with a birthday present.

"Am I boring you?"

She lifted her head. "Not at all. It's interesting to listen to. I know it's important to you and it will help a lot with satellite bases" She grinned and added, "Doctor Soma."

He looked away. "Please don't call me that."

"Still not used to it?"

"I'm used to it, but you don't have to call me that." He looked back at her.

"What?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

"It's just, it really hit me how long you were gone. Your hair is longer." He touched the tips of her hair, which now was well past her shoulders.

"Oh, yeah, it is. I'm thinking of getting it cut. It's gotten too long for my liking."

"How short?"

"Maybe back to the length it was when I first became a God Eater?" She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still thinking about it."

Soma nodded silently and reached for his cup of tea. "Are you on duty tomorrow?"

"I don't think so." Aria thought about it. "Oh yeah, nope." Tsubaki had been very insistent on that. Sure their secret mission was labor intensive but she wanted to be out there! It would be like the old days.

"Well, I'm just doing research tomorrow if all goes well so if you don't mind…" He mumbled something.

"Soma, you need to speak louder." Although she had an idea of what he wanted to ask her.

"Can we talk a bit longer?" he whispered.

"Of course."

***

Aria closed the file and shook her head as she took it in. Wow. Just wow. Most of the information she had access to about the Spiral Tree before coming here was limited. All she really knew was that it was a bad situation. Reading about everything that happened… Wow. She really wished she had been here. She could have done something, anything.

She also really wanted to give Julius a hug. She had met him yesterday and he seemed like a nice fellow. To have to go through that…

She got up and headed for Sakaki's office to return the files. She wondered if she would get to go out into the field at some point during her visit at the Far East. Yesterday there had been a psion in the area and she had offered to go fight it but was immediately shot down by Hibari because she didn't have a Blood Art so her God Arc would have been useless.

Maybe she should go visit Jun and the rest of her family. She was planning on seeing them at the end of the week but it might be better just to do it now.

               She turned the corner and almost ran into Kaiya.

               “Aria!” Kaiya squeaked and jumped back three steps, the papers she had been holding moments before went tumbling to the ground. “Ack, I’m sorry, this is why I get Ciel to take care of this stuff, I’m so clumsy.”

               Based on the reports, Aria had a feeling Ciel was the one that did all the paperwork for the Blood Unit. She kneeled and helped Kaiya pick up the sheets. Aria wasn’t sure how to handle Kaiya. It was like she was vibrating with energy and she kept sending glances in Aria’s direction. Sure Aria was used to people looking up to her, it was hard not to as the Captain that saved the world a few years back but this was odd.

               “You don’t have to be so nervous, we’re both God Eaters and you’re pretty amazing yourself.” Aria handed the papers she picked up to Kaiya.

               “But you’re even amazing-er. I mean, I’ve read all of your reports and stuff and…” Kaiya groaned and took a deep breath. “Okay, give me a moment.”

               “I’ll give you several.” Aria gestured to the files in hand. “Let me drop these off with Sakaki and we can talk alright if you aren’t too busy. I was hoping to ask you a few things about what has been going on here.”

               Kaiya nodded so hard Aria feared the yellow bow Kaiya wore in her red hair would go flying off her head.  “I would love to do that!”

***

               Kaiya wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She was sitting down with the _amazing_ Captain of Cradle and having a conversation with her! Sure, they had a talk in the helicopter but her whole unit was there. She really hoped her words were coming out coherently. Aria had apparently read the reports on the Spiral Tree incident and she had so many questions! She didn’t know how she was going to manage going on missions with Aria to help her awaken her blood art.

               Just thinking about it made a happy smile crawl onto Kaiya’s face. This was just the best.

               “Uh, are you alright?” Aria was staring at her in concern.

               “Fine,” squeaked Kaiya. Ack! Her voice was so high! Oh man, Aria probably thought she was nuts. She felt like she was going nuts. She let out a long sigh and tried to slow her furiously beating heart.

               “Maybe take a few more deep breaths. It might help,” offered up Aria with a smile.

               A smile! Aria was smiling and encouraging her! This was the best day of her life, even better than the day that she tested positive to be a God Eater, a Blood Type even!

               “Okay that doesn’t seem to be working,” Aria mumbled under her breath. Louder, she asked, “Kaiya, is there a story with that ribbon in your hair? All the pics on file of you have you wearing it and I’m curious. Does it mean something? Not like I want to overstep my bounds or anything.”

               If only this day would never end. Kaiya touched the ribbon with her fingers to check it was still there. “It was a gift from my parents. They work for the European branch as members of the God Arc maintenance crew. So, I’ve been around God Eaters my whole life pretty much.”

               “Oh wow, that’s lucky of you. I assume you speak with them often? It seems you care for them and they care for you very much.”

               Kaiya nodded. “Yup! I love my mom and dad a lot. Sadly, I don’t get to see them that often, I’ve saving up my vacation days so I can go there for a week, but I do call them a lot so that’s nice.” She put her hands behind her head. They were incredibly worried when word got out to the other branches about the Spiral Tree incident. “Oh, and fun fact, my mom is from here, at the Far East but she met my dad and she moved to the European Branch to be with him so I’m half Japanese. It’s weird to be here, in the place my mom grew up without her here you know?”

               Ack. She was definitely talking too much! However, it was odd, but unlike the talk about tactics or other God Eater stuff, Aria seemed to be enjoying this conversation more. Or it was like she had a different expression on her face, something gentler.

               Wow. Kaiya was learning the facial expressions of the bestest God Eater. And Ciel says she wasn’t observant enough.

               “It’s good you have a close connection with them, especially during this time-oh Alisa. What’s up?”

               “Nothing too pressing at the moment,” replied Alisa with a smile towards Aria. She turned to Kaiya. “Fran got word that outriders have spotted a psion near one of the satellite bases. I thought I would ask you to come with since I saw you weren’t on a mission today.”

               Kaiya scrambled to her feet. “I think Gilbert and Romeo are around too. I’ll go get them.”

               “Aria, no you can’t come with us.”

               Kaiya, who had taken a few steps, turned in surprise. She never expected Alisa to talk like that to Aria of all people.

               “What do you mean?” Aria crossed her arms.

               “You know why. There’s a psion involved.”

               Aria looked like she was going to protest but then sighed and sat back down. “Right, right. Go on.” A sly grin. “Make sure you save some psions for me to kill once my get my Blood Art alright?”

***

               Aria was bored.

               Which was weird to think about. In all her years of being a God Eater she was always busy with something. If it wasn’t fighting in the field, she was buried under mounds of paperwork, talking with her fellow God Eaters or keeping up the new data coming out about the Aragami. And it seemed like she was doing mostly the later.

               There was a small influx of psions in the area and Aria was not allowed to go sortie. A few times she did get to go out with Kaiya but despite the Blood Unit Captain sticking to her side (the fangirling was still as strong as ever), Aria had not awoken a Blood Art.

               So, for probably the third day in a row, she hung out in the lobby of the Den with not really much to do.

               “Hey Erina, are you looking for someone?” Aria called out to the young God Eater.

               Erina glanced over in Aria’s direction. “I’m looking for Teacher.”

               “Teacher?” Aria repeated in surprise. “Aren’t I your teacher?” Back when Erina had first become a God Eater, Aria and Soma took turns helping Erina learn the ropes of becoming a God Eater, kind of like a penitence for what happened to Eric.

               “True but I’m looking for Kaiya. She’s my Teacher.”

               Aria could feel something stirring in her gut, but she forced a smile. “Oh? Kaiya is huh?”

               “She helped me out a lot. Hmm, I know she isn’t on a mission right now. Maybe she’s in her rooms.”

               “Maybe.”

               Aria watched Erina go, grimanced and got to her feet. The stirring in her stomach was bothering her. Not really wanting to think about it further, she headed for the Lab. Maybe talking to Soma would help.

***

               Soma adjusted the microscope and looked at the Retro Oracle Cells. “Hmm, interesting…” He felt around for his notepad while keeping his eye on the Cells. Where in the world was it? “Where…oh there it is.” He pulled his eyes away from the microscope and jumped and let out a few curses without meaning to.

               “Oh sorry, did I startle you?”

               “How long were you sitting there?”

               Aria adjusted in her seat. “Not very long. You seemed hyper focused, so I didn’t want to bother you.”

               He shook his head. “You’re never bothering me. What’s going on? It’s rare for you to visit me.” Usually he was the one that visited her room at night to spend time with her and to make sure she slept at a reasonable time.

               “Nothing, just bored really.” Aria shrugged. “There’s a couple of psions out there and a lot of small fry Aragami. Some new recruits are being trained so they are being taken out to fight those so…” She pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear. “What are you up to?”

               Ah. Soma knew everyone was working together so Aria would not need to go out into battle as much during her time here. She already did so much for them, letting her get some time to herself was important. “Just checking out the Retro Oracle Cells that Kaiya brought in yesterday. They’re quite fascinating and different from the ones I’ve seen before.” Did he imagine it, or did he see a flicker of something in Aria’s eyes? It wasn’t something he could put a name on and it was gone as fast as he registered it was there.

               “Are you okay?” he asked tentatively.

               “Hmm? Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t worry, I’m fine Soma. Just a little antsy for not really getting to do much. It’s been a while since I was back at the Den so it’s taking me a bit to get used to sitting around and stuff.” She smiled.

               He didn’t know the details about what she had been doing on the mainland but from what he could gather, it had been a difficult mission.

               “Anyway, anything I could help you out with? I might like paperwork but looking at any right now is going to drive me insane.”

               Soma nodded and handed her the notepad. “If you could dictate, that would be great.”

               She grinned. “Of course, Doctor Soma.”

               “I told you to stop calling me that.”


	7. Chapter 7

Aria’s God Arc cut through the kongou, decimating it where it stood. She sighed in relief and rested her Arc on her shoulder, the remnants of her burst fading. Well that was fun.

               “Good job out there Aria!” Hibari’s voice chirped in her ear. “You’re done super early too. I’ll get a chopper sent your way.”

               “Roger that Hibari.”

               Aria looked out at the Valley of Blue Ice and marveled at the frozen lands around her. It was such a pretty place and it had been a while since she was here. The air was also super crisp from the cold. Maybe that’s what she needed. To get out and fight Aragami like a God Eater should instead of being cooped up in the Den. Maybe that’s why she was feeling crappy for the past couple of days. And she got to do this mission herself, so she fought with all of the pent up motion she had been holding back.

               Was it really that though?

               Aria shook her head. It had to be that. What else could it be?

               “Outriders have called it in! A psion is coming your way Aria. You need to retreat and get out of there.” Hibari’s voice echoed on the earpiece.

               A psion?! Here?

               “What type?” asked Aria. “I can harry it.”

               “It’s a Yan Zhi type. But you cannot do that. Kaiya and the Blood Unit are close. I can have them rendezvous to your location. You’re going to need to get going and get some distance between you and it until they arrive.”

               Kaiya again.

               It was always Kaiya wasn’t it? Always. Everyone in the Branch seemed to look up to her, they always went to her for advice. Hell, even her own Cradle Unit turned to Kaiya for questions and what not. Did anyone even ask her for advice the few days she was here? Sure, they did on the first day but other than that, when the Den returned to normal, everyone seemed to focus on Kaiya. Sure some did come up to her but it wasn’t the same.

               It wasn’t the same as it was before.

               Aria’s grip tightened on her God Arc. Kaiya was just kind and jovial. This-

               “Aria! What are you doing!? You have to go!”

               Aria snapped back to the present just as her God Arc seemed to take on a tremendous weight. She looked up and saw the turquoise feathers. Well this wasn’t good.

***

               “Damn it!” Soma cursed as his finger slipped and the incision he made on the Retro Oracle Cell was too big. Damn it, he probably wrecked that sample. Thankfully he had a few more left but he needed to be more careful.

               He was reaching for another sample when Alisa burst into the Lab.

               “Alisa, I’m busy right now. Unless we have Aragami on our doorstep I don’t want to hear it.”

               “Forget your research!”

               Soma turned, ready to retort on how important this was when he saw the tears leaking from the edge of Alisa’s eyes.

               “It’s Aria,” she whispered.

               “What happened?”  Soma did not think, he just followed Alisa out of the Lab. “Is she okay?”

               Alisa shook her head. “I don’t know. Kota called me and let me know. Apparently she was out in the field by herself when a Yan Zhi was spotted going to where she was.”

               A psion!? How did the outriders not catch that!? And why was Aria allowed to go on a mission so far from the Den by herself even though she didn’t have a Blood Art!?

               “The Blood Unit was close by so they were able to rescue her but…” Alisa bit her lip as they entered the Sick Bay.

               And caught the tail end of Tsubaki’s stern lecture. “Honestly, a God Eater of your prestige, freezing up like that. It’s not what I expected from you at all.”

               “Sorry Tsubaki…” Aria turned to the door. “Oh, hey Soma, Alisa.”

               Soma stood on the doorway, not really able to understand what he was seeing. There she was, the pride and joy of the Cradle Unit, with bandages wrapped tight around her arms and torso. There was also something else off about this picture, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on what it was.

               “Oh my God!” Alisa ran to Aria’s bedside.

               “I’m fine Alisa, really. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

               “I’ll leave you alone for now but we’ll continue this conversation later.” Tsubaki approached the doorway and glanced at Soma, who had not moved.  “She froze up out there,” Tsubaki said softly. Soma doubted Aria could hear as she was busy comforting Alisa. “She didn’t react and then when the Yan Zhi appeared, she tried to fight it with her barely functioning God Arc. Anyone that wasn’t her probably would not have survived doing something so reckless. She was able to hold out for the most part until the Blood Unit showed up but…”

               Soma gritted his teeth and stepped into the room. “Alisa. Do you mind?”

               Alisa looked up in Soma in surprise and then at Aria. “Oh. Of course.” She stood and rubbed her eyes. “I’ll try to keep everyone out to give you two some time alone for a bit.”

               “Thanks,” he murmured.

               Alisa nodded and gave Aria one final glance before slipping out.

               Soma took a deep breath and sat on the stool next to the bed.

               “You don’t have to say it, Tsubaki already gave me the lecture.” Aria looked away.

               “I know she did. We heard the end of it. But, how? What happened Aria?”

               “Nothing happened. It just moved faster than I thought to get there.”

               “And why did you fight it then?!” He slammed his fists against his thighs. “Aria, you don’t have a Blood Art! Your Arc is useless against them!”

               “Goddamn it Soma, I know!” Aria leaned back into the bed, the heel of her palms pressed against her eyes. “I know,” she repeated in a quieter tone.

               He grimanced and reached out for her hand. “Does it hurt?”

               She looked at him, at the hand and then rested her hand in his. “Not really. They gave me enough pain killers and my oracle cells are doing their job.” She scratched the back of her head. “I really was not expecting them to hit so hard.”

               It was her eyes, Soma realized. There was something off in them. He didn’t know what it was but something was missing in them that had been there before. What had happened out there?

               Before he could say anything she spoke up again. “Tsubaki pretty much kicked me off active duty for a while due to that stunt. Told me that once I was feeling better I should get out of the Den and hang out with my family.”

               “I think that would be a good idea. Maybe it would be good for you to see Jun and the others. You haven’t seen them in a long time.”

               “Yeah. I should go see them. And see how the orphanage is doing.”

               “Aria, can I ask you something?”

               “What is it?”

               “Is everything okay?”

               “What do you mean?”

               “Is everything okay with you?” Soma searched her face for any hint on what was gone.

               “I’m fine, don’t worry about it. I can be stupid sometimes too. Maybe it was me not being in the field for a while that threw me off.” She gave him her signature smile.

               For some reason Soma didn’t really believe it.

               “Oh come on Alisa! Let us in!” Kota’s voice out from beyond the door.

               “Oh boy, I assume Kota wants to get in here. Should probably let him in before he goes to Bug-that-Rally on the door.”

               “I have no idea what you are saying.” Soma stood. “But I’ll let Alisa know it’s okay to come in now. But seriously. No more crazy stunts like this until you have a Blood Art alright?”

               “Alright.”

***

               “Okay, spill it, what’s going on?” Jun collapsed on the couch, crossed his arms and regarding his sister, sitting across from him.

               “What do you mean what’s going on?” Aria looked at him in confusion.

                “Aria, you walked over here this morning out of the blue and said you would be staying here for a while. I know you love us and all but usually you send a heads up ahead of time. You know Ayame wants to make sure your room is all dusted and clean and stuff when you arrive.”

               “Well it wasn’t like I could give much warning.” Aria looked to the side at the brightly colored wooden walls that made up the orphanage. Soon after her brother and her made up, she had given him most of the money she had accumulated during her time as a God Eater. Much to her surprise, instead of using it to fund and take care of their current family, Jun had gotten to work on building an orphanage in the Outer Ghetto.

               Now they took in children from all over the Ghetto that were orphaned from various Aragami attacks and raised them in a safe and loving environment.  A few of the older kids had taken up the role as teachers to help these kids not fall through the cracks and prepare them for the future. A few of the children here had even gone on to work at the Den as staff and some had even become God Eaters.

               For Aria it was sad to think that now she didn’t know all of her “siblings” due to her God Eater duties taking her far and wide.

               “Sure you couldn’t. I can buy that. What I can’t buy is how you’re acting. There’s something wrong and I know it.”

               Aria grimanced and focused on Jun’s office. With the paperwork everywhere and books pressed against the shelves, it kind of mirrored what her own space looked like when she was in the First Unit. And this was the same brother that hated anything to do with numbers.

               “Aria, I would ask for a sparring match but you would murder me so I won’t.”

               “Oh come on, I’ll hold back my punches a little bit.” She grinned.

               Jun did not take the bait. Instead he just stared at her expectantly. “I thought your boyfriend was supposed to be able to catch onto all this stuff. He’s pretty good at reading you.”

               “Did you really just compliment Soma?” Aria stared at Jun in surprise. Sure Jun was civil but he didn’t go out of his way to be nice to Soma. Aria suspected the whole “slamming against a wall” upon first meeting had something to do with it. At least they weren’t at each other’s throats during the few times Soma came with her to visit her family.

               “Now don’t you tell him I said that,” Jun grumbled as he crossed his arms. “But seriously, I’m not kidding. What’s wrong? What happened? For you to be ‘forced’ to come home and visit us, it had to be something serious or you did something stupid again.”

               “Rude, I don’t do that many stupid things.”

               Jun raised an eyebrow.

               “Okay, maybe I do a couple of reckless things.” Aria sighed. “I went after a psion despite not having a Blood Art.” At her brother’s confused look, she added, “Without a Blood Art, the Arc shuts down in the presence of a psion. Psions are a special type of Aragami that causes a reaction in the God Arc.”

               “I’m sure you can go into the science behind it and I really don’t want you to.” Jun regarded her. “So you attacked something you shouldn’t have and that got you in trouble.”

               “Well, it didn’t go as well as I’m making it seem…” Aria looked away. She could tell Jun was slowly pulling the pieces together.

               Jun let out a long, deep breath. “Aria, you were injured weren’t you? Because you attacked this thing.” When Aria did not respond, he slammed his fist on his desk. “Goddamn it, what were you thinking!? If you couldn’t fight it, why would you!?”

               “It...I…” Aria could feel a lump lodge in her throat and she stared at the ground. Realizing that Jun had not said anything, she looked up in confusion and saw he was regarding her carefully.

               Jun got up and walked over to the window. A few of the younger kids were playing out in the yard and Aria’s enhanced senses could tell they were playing with a ball. “You know,” he said quietly. “With you gone, I had to learn a lot of things being the only one at the head of the family. And I realized how much you’ve done for us, done for me even. And how much you had to hold back because you wanted to make sure the rest of us were okay.”

               Jun turned to look at her. “Aria, it’s okay. I’m not going to judge you or anything. I just want to make sure you’re okay. You’re always out there, fighting, doing all that crazy God Eater stuff. In this place, you aren’t a God Eater, you’re our-my sister. And that’s all you will be here. So let me be the big brother and help you out okay?”

               “Hey wait a minute, I thought we agreed that I was the oldest.”

               “No way, I am,” retorted Jun. “We accepted that a long time ago.”

               “Rude.” Aria rolled her eyes. “I could totally beat you in a fight though.”

               “That, I am not going to fight against because I know it is true.” He stared at her expectantly.

               Aria sighed. When did her little brother grow up and become an adult? “It…I…”

               “Take your time.”

               Aria pressed her palms against her eyes as she could feel the tears welling up. “It’s Kaiya. She’s a God Eater, Blood Unit member. She’s…amazing. She’s strong in battle and such a good person and everyone looks up to her. And I…I…” She could feel tears starting to leak out even though she didn’t want them to.

               “I’m happy.”

               Aria looked up at her brother in surprise. “What?”

               “I’m happy,” he repeated in that same tone. “I’m happy that there’s someone else in the Den that elicits the same response as you do.”

               “What…”

               He put up a hand. “Here me out okay? I know you Aria. I know you’re the type of person that defines your worth based on other people. Heck, we did the same thing to you when you were living here with us. And from what I know of your time as a God Eater, it’s the same there too. You’re this amazing, talented God Eater and I think that has gone to your head.

               “Now I’m not saying you aren’t good at what you do. Heck, from what I’ve seen I _know_ you are amazing at it. But I also know that you accepted that as a part of yourself now. That unless you are that amazing God Eater you aren’t you, you aren’t worth it. And honestly, you still are that person. Heck, who cares that you can’t fight psions right now? You’ll get it eventually and then you’ll be off doing that demon of the battlefield thing that you always do.

               “But I am glad that Kaiya is here now and taking some of that pressure off you. You are an amazing, talented God Eater but you don’t have to be the only one anymore. You never had to be the only one.”

               Before Aria could retort, Jun pointed his finger at her. “I’m not done. I know for a fact that even though it seems like everyone seems to be ignoring you for her, I _know_ that isn’t the case. Everyone there does look up to you. Heck, I know Soma worships the ground you stand on.”

               “Oh come on Jun, no he doesn’t.”

               Jun eyed her. “You don’t know how he looks at you when you aren’t looking.”

               Despite her tears, Aria’s face flushed.

               “Anyway, I never told you this but three years ago when I met your whole group in the refugee hold and I uh…did the thing and Soma pushed me against the wall? That other one, Lindow I think his name was? He threatened to kill me if I did something like that again.”

               “He did what now?”

               “Yeah. That happened.” Jun crossed his arms and shook his head, but he didn’t seem that upset by the memory. “And before you say it was three years ago and things change, I say it hasn’t changed. I’m sure those guys would go to hell and back if you told them to.” He walked over and ruffled her hair. “I’m happy that you got to feel something like this because you struggle with that still.”

               “Hey now!” Aria swatted his hand away.

               “Talk to one of them. Heck, talk to Soma if you have to. Cause even though I know all of them would be okay with you telling them this, I know he knows how to keep quiet if needed. Talk to him and he will get rid of all those fears you have, alright?”

               Aria was about to retort that it wasn’t that easy when there was a knock on the door and Ayame stuck her head in. “Hey, I finished cleaning your room Aria.” She frowned as she took in the situation. “Is everything okay?”

               “We’re ironing some kinks out, don’t worry about it,” said Jun. “Remember, talk to him.”

               Aria got to her feet and nodded at Jun half-heartedly as she followed her sister out.

               The next couple of days were probably the most relaxed Aria had been in a while. When the kids realized who was staying in the orphanage with them, it was like a dam broke loose. So many had questions for her and wanted to marvel at her armlet. She ended up teaching a class on the basics of the Den and how God Eaters helped the people.

               On the fourth day, Ayame found Aria in the children’s playroom, helping some of the eight-year-olds build a block tower.

               “Hey Aria, you have a visitor waiting for you.”

               Aria got to her feet after saying goodbye to the kids and followed Ayame to the entrance of the orphanage. “Who is it?” Besides her family she did not know many people in the Outer Ghetto. Well besides Kota’s family but they were all the way in E-26.

               She stopped in surprise when she saw Soma leaning against the wall. “Soma? What are you doing here?” She grinned. “Am I finally allowed back in the Den?”

               He gave her a once-over with a critical eye. Aria blinked in surprise and looked down. She wasn’t in anything too weird. Just casual, non-oracle cell embedded clothing.

               “No. Tsubaki is still not ready for you to come back but I wanted to visit and see how you were doing. And take you somewhere.”

               “Take me somewhere?” she asked in surprise.

               He reached out and grasped her hand. “To the Sacred Grounds.”

***

               “Wow! It’s so beautiful!”

               Soma watched Aria as she marveled at the lush green that made up the fertile grounds. She looked fine but he did notice her eyes still had the same missing spark that was there before. Jun had called him a few days ago (which was weird in and of itself) asking Soma to take her out and have a chat with her away from places that would remind her of being a God Eater. It had taken a bit of work to get everything set up but since he was the head of research he had enough pull and Tsubaki was all on board with this once Soma alluded it would help Aria as well.

               Soma sat on the grass and was amused to see her express a childlike marvel that he rarely saw in her.

               She walked over and sat down next to him. “The pictures don’t do it justice, this place is amazing. I really wish I could show the kids.”

               “Perhaps one day this will be over the world again.”

               “Maybe.” She looked at him. “Why did you come out to see me? And don’t give me the excuse of wanting to see me. To get a helicopter and get all of this set up takes some planning. If you wanted to see me, you would have just come by the orphanage.”

               Soma grimaced. She was too smart for her own good. “Well everyone is worried about you, so this is partly to see how you are doing and you do look okay.”

               Aria sighed and pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear. “Jun put you up to this didn’t he?”

               “What? No. He didn’t. Okay, maybe he did,” Soma relented at Aria’s stare.

               “Damn it.” Aria pulled her knees up and rested her head on top of them.

               “Aria? What’s going on?” Soma hesitated for a moment but then he reached out and put an arm around her, pulling her close so her head rested on his shoulder.

               “If I tell you, you’ll hate me.”

               Soma looked down at her in surprise. “I wouldn’t hate you.”

               “No, you will. You will hate me.”

               Damn. Based on Jun’s cryptic comments, he knew there was something bothering her, but this sounded serious. “Unless you had something to do with my father’s schemes, I would never hate you.” He tried to imagine what it even would be like to hate her, but it was impossible.

               She pulled away and looked him in the eye. He froze, noticing that she looked like she was going to cry. She shook her head and pressed her face into her hands. “I can’t. Soma I can’t.”

               “You can.” He insisted. He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, locking his arms so she could not escape. “I know you. I know the kind of person you are. Damn it, you’re always looking into other’s peoples lives and fixing their problems. Please. Let me help you for once.” Even during the Maria case, Aria had taken on most of it on her own. He wanted her to let him in, let him help her like she did him. But it seemed like a part of her was still holding back.

               “I’m not going to let you go until you tell me. We’re going to be sitting here all day and all night and you won’t get any giant corn.”

               A small pained laugh. It was something at least.

               “Did my brother tell you?”

               “No. He said I needed to hear it from you.”

               “It’s so stupid though. It really is.”

He could feel her trying to pull away but he held on tight. No way she was escaping without saying anything.

               A sigh. “You’re so intense about the oddest of things.”

               “It’s not odd if it is related to you.”

               Silence. And then she spoke again. “It…I… It’s Kaiya.”

               “What about her?” Soma could not picture Kaiya doing anything to Aria. Hell, it seemed like the Blood Unit member was a huge fan of Aria to the point Soma wondered if Kaiya knew his girlfriend better than he did.

               “Well it’s not exactly her. It’s what’s happening around her. Everyone looks up to her. She’s great at what she does, she has that awaken blood ability. And she’s a good person, I know she is. I know why she attracts other to her even if she is not great in terms of tactics.”

               “Are you…jealous of her?”

               Her lack of response was a good enough response for him. He couldn’t believe it. Aria, actually jealous of someone! He didn’t even know she had it in her to be jealous of someone else.

               “I don’t want to be,” she whispered. “I hate this feeling. And I don’t have a Blood Art so I can’t do much while I’m here.”

               “You are overthinking this too much.”

               “What do you mean I’m overthinking?”

               “I mean that we’re all-the Cradle Unit and I know the members of the Far East that know you, we all look to you. We just didn’t want you to overwork during your stay here. We wanted you to rest, get some time to relax. You’re always ready to go to fight Aragami and you came back from that difficult mission and we didn’t want to push you.”

               “Oh.”

               “And to let you know, you are our Captain. No matter what happens, you are the one we follow.”

               A small chuckle from her. “Jun said something similar. He said you guys would follow me to Hell and back if I told you to.”

               “Just tell us when to pack our bags and we will be on our way. And I’m not kidding.”

               “Thanks Soma.” He felt her pull away and then time he let her move away from him. Her eyes had a slight glint of what was there before this all happened. He had a feeling it would take time for her to return to the person she was before but it was a start.

***

               “You did it!” Kaiya squealed and ran over to Aria. “You awoke to a Blood Art!”

               Aria stared at the dead fallen Chi You and then at her God Arc. “I did,” she repeated in surprise.

               “I’ve never seen a Blood Art that’s connected to devouring before. But I guess we had to expect you would be different like that.”

               Aria had to smile at Kaiya’s sparkling eyes. Sure she had calmed down since their first meeting but it seemed like Kaiya’s cheer and hyperness was just a part of her personality.

               “I don’t know much either.” Aria shrugged. “I guess it is another thing Dr. Sakaki is going to be researching.”

“Oh he does that for you too? He’s always bothering me about wanting to do research.”

Aria laughed. “That’s him all right.”

 The two climbed into the chopper and returned to the Den. Much to Aria’s surprise, many members of the Far East came up to congratulate her on her awakening to a Blood Art.

“Those psions won’t even see it coming!” Kota punched his fist into the air. “Demon of the battlefield is going to murder them in their sleep.”

“Kota, I told you I don’t like that name!”

“Oh come on, it’s your nickname!”

Aria sighed and shook her head. She knew that wasn’t a battle she was going to win. And maybe that was for the best.


	8. Chapter 8

How in the world did Soma end up in this situation again? He shifted back and forth, painfully aware of the leather seat creaking under him.  Lindow sat across from him, regarding Soma with amusement.

               “You know,” Lindow began slowly. “You were the one that pulled me aside and said we needed to talk.”

               “I know! I’m getting there!” Soma massaged the bridge of his nose. He knew Lindow was right though.  Soma was about to leave the satellite base when he spotted Lindow coming in while on another Cradle mission. Before Lindow could head out, Soma grabbed him and half-dragged the fellow God Eater into a private room Soma had been using while at this base. He had been here for about a week, testing to see if the Retro Active oracle cells reacted differently based on the environment.

               Of course that was neither here nor there.

               “This has something to do with Aria doesn’t it?” Lindow laughed. “Don’t look so shocked. This is the only time you ever seem to want to talk with me in privately like this.”

               Soma grimanced. That was true wasn’t it?

               Lindow leaned back and rested his hands behind his head. “So? What is it this time?” He made a face. “Please don’t tell me I have to give you talk about where babies come from.”

               “No! I know that,” Soma snapped in response. His face flushed as his thoughts went to _that_.

               “No way, you two haven’t done it yet?”

               Soma didn’t know his face could burn up even more than it already had. “That…that is none of your business!”

               Lindow blinked slowly and sat back. “Huh, I really thought you two would have gone for it by now but she’s always been so consciousness of you so I guess it makes sense.”

               It had been years and he finally kicked the habit of trying to tug his hood down but he _really_ wished he had one right now. Or the ability to teleport. Or something to get out of this situation.

               “Alright, enough teasing from me. What you two do behind closed doors is up to you, just be safe about it. Now what did you really want to talk about?”

               Great, just great. Now his train of thought was in a completely different direction. Based on what Lindow had said it was weird that him and Aria haven’t done it yet? Did she want to do it? He had to admit to himself that he wanted to-

               Alright, enough with that line of thought.

               Soma took a few deep breaths. Focus on the matter at hand.

               “It is about Aria,” he admitted. “I’ll be heading to the Far East in a few days to take the samples back to the lab and she sent me a message that she will be there in a day or two after I get there, and we will have a few days to spend together.”

               “Okay…” Lindow said slowly.

               Soma tightened his hands into fists and then ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I…” Damn it, the previous conversation had really riled him up. He thought it would be so much easier than this. “I…is it too forward for me to ask…” Damn it. It wouldn’t come out!

               “Ask?” prompted Lindow.

               “Ask for her to…to…”

               “To go on a date? To go with you on a mission?  To watch Bugarally with her and Kota? Come on Soma, seriously.” Lindow leaned forward and patted Soma on the shoulder. “It’s not like you’re going to ask her to marry you.”

               Soma froze.

               Lindow froze a moment later.  “Wait…. seriously?”

               “It’s not a good idea. I knew it.”

               “Whoa, hang on there!” Lindow clamped his aragami hand on Soma’s arm before Soma could escape. “You aren’t leaving after telling me that! Sit down right now and we’re going to talk about this!”

               Soma slowly sat back down. He had a feeling if he did try to bolt Lindow would hunt him down…and maybe get the rest of the Cradle Unit involved.

               Lindow sat back and crossed his arms. “So you’re finally going to pop the question huh? What brought this on? Like why now?”

               Soma rubbed the back of his neck. He knew the relationship he had with Aria was…odd. They didn’t see each other that often and when they did, half the time it was work related stuff. It was just, whenever they did get a chance, he loved those moments with her. He loved spending time with her. He loved getting to know her and the person she was before she was a God Eater. She was the thing that was always stable. No matter what she was there for him and he loved being there for her.

               “Never mind, you don’t have to answer that question,” Lindow said softly.

               Soma blinked in surprise.

               “Anyway, how are you going to ask her?”

               “That’s what I’m not sure about.”

               “Okay, that’s one thing we need to discuss.”

               “There’s more than one thing?” Soma asked in surprise.

               Lindow nodded solemnly. “Well, you’re also going to need to talk to Jun right?”

***

               “You want to marry my sister?” Jun whirled around and did it so fast he almost pulled a neck muscle.  Despite the years of working close with them, sometimes the stares that God Eaters had were unnerving. The unwavering stare of someone that was observing and taking in all details at once. He had seen the same look on Aria a few times and every time he had to remind himself that no matter what, Aria was Aria and wouldn’t turn into a monster like Maria did.

               Soma nodded slowly. “I plan on asking her when she returns to the Far East tomorrow. Well, perhaps the day after tomorrow to give her some rest. Very soon.”

               Jun leaned against his desk. Well, today had to be the weirdest day ever. First off, Soma had come to the orphanage without Aria in tow. It had taken a while to get him up to Jun’s office without the kids following. Bless Ayame and her ability to corral them. Otherwise there would be a bunch listening at the door and this was not something Jun wanted to have being whispered about in the orphanage.

               “So why are you asking me? She’s an adult the last time I checked.” Jun crossed his arms.

               Soma shrugged. “Honestly, I talked to Lindow and he said I should talk to you before asking her. That this is what people ‘used to do’.” He put his hands in his pockets and gave Jun that unwavering God Eater stare. “However, I understand why. If I do marry her, technically, we would be brothers.”

               Jun made a face and then sighed. “Guess we have to bury that hatchet, huh?” He walked over and stuck out his hand. “Name’s Jun. I’m Aria’s older brother.”

               A small crack of a smile. “She’s always told me you were her younger brother. Name’s Soma.”

               “That’s what she wants you to think. Don’t let her fool you, I am older.” 

               They clasped hands and shook on it. Soma had a firm grip but it wasn’t bone-crushing as Jun thought it would be.

               “Should I push you against a wall for old times sake?”

               Jun rolled his eyes and took a big step back. “Sadly I have to pass on that one. Very busy. Good luck although I don’t think you’re going to need it.” At Soma’s confused look, Jun laughed. “I honestly would be surprised if she said no.”

***

               Aria woke up feeling fresh and restored. There was nothing like the beds of the Far East branch. She had arrived late last night and ended up going straight to bed as soon as she arrived. Thankfully it was still well within the time Mutsumi made breakfast and Aria was able to get a piping hot set of pancakes for herself.

               “Hi Aria!” Kaiya bounded over and despite the early hour, she looked bright and awake. Or it might be because she saw Aria. Despite it being two years since they’ve met, Kaiya still had some of the awe in her since the first meeting. Aria on the other hand had gotten used to Kaiya. Kaiya was the one who kept everyone safe in the Far East while Cradle was off doing dangerous missions elsewhere. Now Aria was more grateful than jealous of the strong God Eater.

               “What are you doing up so early?” asked Aria.

               “Well, I’ve been up for a few hours now. Ciel, Nana and I were taking care of some psions that appeared. They went back to sleep but I couldn’t go sleep without a light snack so…”

               Aria chuckled. “Well I’m sure Mutsumi can get something together for you.”

               “Yup! I’ll talk to you later then?”

               Aria finished up her pancakes and headed back to her room. She stopped as she saw Alisa waiting by the door. “I didn’t think you would be at my door so soon.”

               Alisa rolled her eyes and followed Aria in. “Just be glad I was also at the Far East. Can’t have you going on a date wearing that.”

               Aria looked down at her clothes in confusion. “What’s wrong with my tank top and pants?”

               Alisa shook her head. “Nothing wrong with them but…” Alisa held up the clothes she had slung over an arm. “Don’t worry, they’re more your style than me.”

               Well that was good at least. During a girls night, the girls had convinced Aria to try on one of Alisa’s tops. Yeah, Aria found out she did not like the feeling of air against the bottom of her breasts.

               “I seriously don’t get why this date is such a big deal to you. I’ve gone on so many dates with Soma and you are never this into what I wear for them.”

               Alisa arranged the outfits on Aria’s bed. “Well I got a call from Sakuya that today might be a little different than normal, so she wanted me to make sure it went well.”

               “Wait what? How does Sakuya know that?”

               Alisa was carefully patting out the wrinkles on one of the pairs of pants. “Well cause Lindow and Soma apparently had a talk and Lindow hinted to Sakuya that it was something big…” Alisa paused and glanced at Aria and then back at the clothes and winced. “Ugh, maybe I said too much.”

               “Maybe,” replied Aria with a small laugh. “Wonder what it could be though?” It probably wasn’t anything too serious if she wasn’t told right away but what could it be?

               “It can’t be…”

               Aria’s focused on Alisa. “You figured it out?”

               “Maybe but…” Alisa shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t say anything. Not if it is _that_.”

               “ _That_?” Aria narrowed her eyes. “Come on Alisa. Spill it.”

               “Uh, no! I can’t!”

               Aria lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Don’t make me find out on our own.”

               “No fair!” Alisa backed up to the point she was against a wall. She looked back at Aria and then at the wall. “Using your resonance for this is cheating!”

               “I’m a captain using every power at my disposal,” Aria said simply as she slowly approached Alisa with her fingers wiggling.

               “Well I think he’s going to ask to marry you!”

               Aria froze and stared at Alisa in shock. “Huh? What? No. He’s not…what.”

               “It’s just a theory but it would make sense if he was talking to Lindow right? And I heard he went out to the Outer Ghetto yesterday. Would make sense if he wanted to talk to your family right?”

               “Nonsense,” scoffed Aria. “He was probably out there doing research on the Retro oracle cells. I know he’s been wanting to see how they react in different environments.”

               “Uh huh.” Alisa moved away from the wall and back to the bed and began holding up pieces of clothing.  “You want to marry him though right?”

               Aria took a seat on the couch, this conversation going in a place she didn’t think it would. She curled a lock of hair around a finger. “I mean, I’m not opposed to the idea.” She winced at Alisa’s deadpan look. “Okay, yes, I would marry him but I know he’s not ready for something like that.”

               “Not ready? What are you talking about? No, I don’t think blue is your color today.” Alisa folded an outfit set and put it to the side.

               “Alisa, Soma didn’t have friends until he was eighteen.”

               “Wow, way to make Soma sound a bit pathetic there.”

               “You know what I mean.” Aria rolled her eyes. “He had to learn so much on how to let others in and how to put his trust in others. It all takes time. I’m okay with taking things slow,” she said softly.

               Alisa let out a long sigh. “Seriously, this is why you two are taking forever to do anything in your relationship. I feel like you’re still overly relying in him to lead when honestly, you can grab him by the hand and drag him along and he’ll keep up with you and if he can’t, he’ll let you know.  Or you’ll figure it out. You’re good at reading all of us.” Alisa held up another outfit. “Oh! Possibly we can go with red today.”

               “Maybe…” Aria shrugged. She wrung her hands in her lap. “I just…. I just don’t want him to hate me,” she whispered.

               “Trust me, I don’t think Soma can hate you. He can get annoyed and mad at you sure, and he will sometimes scold you for doing reckless things-which by the way, you still need to stop charging into danger like that-but he won’t. He won’t hate you for showing him who you are.”

               Aria pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear. “If you say so Alisa.”

               “I may not be smart like you Captain, but I know this. Anyway, here, try this on. You have to meet up with Soma soon right? I refuse to let you leave here looking like that.”

               Aria sighed. “Right, right.” She got up and noticed a bag Alisa had dropped by the bed. “Uh Alisa, what’s that?”

               Alisa looked down at the bag and then smiled at Aria. “You think you were leaving your room without even a little bit of makeup?”

***

               Soma grimanced and had to resist the urge to run his fingers through his hair. Kota had been waiting outside his door this morning. Apparently, he had gotten word from Lindow that his date with Aria today was a _big deal._ After a bit of grilling it looked like Kota didn’t have any idea on what Soma had talked about with Lindow but Kota was there to make sure Soma looked somewhat decent looking and presentable.

               Which was kind of ridiculous considering what Kota wore on a daily basis. Also Aria wasn’t the type to care about that kind of stuff and he wasn’t either. That’s why they worked well together. Neither of them really cared about wearing super nice clothing or making their hair look different just for a single day. However, Kota would not relent and in the end, Soma had to let the fellow God Eater in. Despite Kota’s odd fashion sense, he didn’t suggest Soma wear anything too weird. Just a new button down shirt and a pair of slacks. His hair was also slightly styled with a bit of hairspray.

               He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited by the entrance of the Den, hyper-aware of the goings on around him. No one was looking directly at him but it was obvious everyone knew why he was standing there in clothes that weren’t what he usually wore and without his Cradle Unit coat.

               Maybe it would be best to wait by the chopper instead?

               “Sorry, sorry, Alisa wouldn’t let me go without putting on final touches!” Aria hurried out of the elevator and half-ran towards him.

               He was taken aback for a moment. Sure her clothes weren’t anything new for her, pants and a tank top, but at the same time there was more of a girly edge to them. The dark brown tank top had laces on the edges, her pants well fitted. Her hair had a few small braids in it, arranged in a way that looked appealing rather than tacky. There were also faint traces of makeup on her face.

               “Wow, looks like you got a bit dressed up too.” Aria gave him a once-over in surprise.

               “This is all Kota,” Soma replied gruffly.

               “Oh same. Well this is Alisa. She cornered me, saying that I _had_ to get dressed up today, even just a little bit.”

               Wait what. Crap, did Lindow tell Alisa!? No, it couldn’t be. Otherwise Aria would probably just come out and say it or something.  Or maybe Alisa did know but she didn’t tell Aria? Alisa was good at keeping secrets unless Aria used resonance.

               This was getting way out of hand.

               He startled as Aria slipped her hand in his. “Shall we get going?” she asked. “We only have a day before I am back on active duty again.”

***

               Aria could tell Soma was incredibly nervous.

               On the whole helicopter ride to the Sacred Ground, he was very fidgety. He was also a bit more snappish than usual which she attributed to his nerves. That poor helicopter driver. However, did that mean that Alisa’s theory was right? Was he going to ask her _the_ question?

               No way. It had to be something else right?

               “Wow, the Sacred Ground looks so different from the last time I was here.” Aria looked around at the expansive greenery around her. Now there were many plots of land growing fresh fruits and vegetables and the orchard trees were fully grown. A few wooden homes stood at various points and a couple more were in the process of being built. She knew that soon enough, they were going to try to have people move in and live here.

               “Julius said it was alright for us to use that house for a base while we’re here today.” Soma pointed to the closest wooden structure. “He said we can pick ripe fruits and vegetables we want to eat too and there’s a wood stove we can use to cook inside.”

               “Sounds great,” replied Aria. “You want to walk around a bit and see what choices we have? I’m sure I can whip up something nice for lunch.”

               “You mean ‘we’,” he replied.

               “Right, we.” Soma’s cooking wasn’t that great. Probably had something to do with him being part of the Den his whole life, he never did have to learn how to cook for himself. Aria had started teaching him, but it’s been a slow process due to how busy they were. At least now she could trust him to make rice without burning it.

               “I’ve been practicing on my own!” he protested. “I can make those instant ramen things now.”

               Yeah, there was definitely a long way to go regarding that.

               Aria slipped her hand in his and they began a long, slow circuit around the Sacred Ground.  Every now and then one of them would point something out to the other. The herd of capybaras, plants, a lake. It was such a pretty and tranquil place here. The perfect place for Soma to drop the question. If he was going to ask the question. She was really starting to doubt it as they had almost finished their walk around the Sacred Ground. Oh, unless he wanted to wait until after the meal?

               Crap. Now she was stuck on the idea he was going to ask her. Ugh, why did Alisa have to put the idea in her head!?

               “What are you thinking about?” he asked softly.

               Damn it, of course he would ask. “It’s nothing,” she said quickly. A little too quickly as he frowned.

               “Aria,” he began.

               “Oh no, don’t you ‘Aria’ me. It’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine, nothing weird is going on with me. How about you though? How is the research coming along?”

               Thankfully that was enough of a prompt that got Soma talking about the Retro Oracle Cell research. She really loved how his eyes lit up as he went into detail, his words half slurring into the others as he tried to get out everything there was to say.  This was a Soma that didn’t exist back when they had first met. She wasn’t even sure if that Soma was able to smile.

               Her thoughts returned to what Alisa said. That she should put more trust in Soma, that he would be able to tell her if she was moving too fast.

               “So, what shall we do for lunch?” asked Soma.

               “Lunch?” Oh right, they needed to make lunch. “Well those pumpkins look nice along with the corn. I could probably make a soup or something. I learned some recipes when I was over in the European branch.”

               “Soup huh?”

               Soma released her hand and walked over to the pumpkin patch. He kneeled next to one and gently knocked on it. “How would we know if it is ripe?”

               She put her hands behind her back as she watched Soma try to figure out the pumpkin. And how to pick it. He was murmuring under his breath, something about how Julius should have given him specific instructions.         

               They were God Eaters. Who knew what tomorrow would bring even though they were both amazing incredibly skilled fighters? They had been dating for five years, an incredibly long time for people in their profession.

               “Got it!” Soma held up the pumpkin proudly.

               Aria had to smile. He was just so happy. Could she really push her own wish if he was not going to ask?

               “Aria, there’s something wrong, I can tell.” He put the pumpkin down and hurried over to her. Before she could protest that it wasn’t the case, he cupped her face with his hands and pressed his forehead against hers.          

               “I’m okay, really,” she replied softly. She rested her hands on top of his for a moment before she pulled away so she could look him in the face, search his face for a reaction.

               “Aria?” It seemed like he was also searching her expression for something.

               Why was the air so weirdly charged right now?

               “Aria,” he began but he paused and looked away from her.

               Now it was Aria’s turn to cup his face to make him look at her. “Soma, this might be sudden,” she began softly.  “I want for us to get married.”

Soma dropped to his knees.

               It took her a moment to process what had just happened. She looked down in surprise at her boyfriend on his knees, his face buried in his hands.

               “Soma?!” She kneeled next to him, a little worried she had given him a heart attack or something.

               “Damn it Aria,” he whispered. He ran his fingers through his hair.

               “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I know that was out of the blue. Forget it.”

               She jumped as Soma grabbed her hand, his eyes had an intensity to that that she had never seen before. “Aria, I…I wanted to ask you to marry me today, but it looks like you beat me to the punch.”

               “Oh,” she said softly. “Well I’m sorry for ruining your plan.”

               “No, it’s okay. It’s okay.” He chuckled. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I would even get the courage to ask you in the end so I’m grateful you said something.”

               “Oh, but I’m still sorry for jumping ahead.”

               “No, it’s fine. It’s fine.” He gently took her hands in his own. “But if you are asking me and I’m asking you…”

               “Well, looks like the only course of action is to get married,” Aria said with a laugh.

               Soma smiled. “Looks like it.”  He pulled her towards him and kissed her deeply.

               It didn’t take long for Soma to be lying in the grass with Aria curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest.

               “That was very unlike you,” she said with a chuckle, looking up at him.

               Soma gently ran his fingers through her hair but didn’t say anything to counter her comment.

               Aria lightly traced lazy circles on his chest. “You know we are going to need to have a wedding.”

               “Yeah. Your brother said we had to have it where all of the kids can go and be there.”

               Aria lifted her head in surprise. “You talked to Jun?”

               “I asked him for your hand. Lindow said that was what people used to do and I wanted to do it right.”

               Aria rested her head back on his chest. Huh, well then. “You know we really should make lunch before either of us starve.”

               “Right. We should,” he agreed but didn’t move, didn’t stop running his fingers through her hair. “Aria?”

               “Yes?”

               “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re happy.”

               She smiled. “And I’ll do whatever I can for you too. But really, we should make lunch. I’m starting to get hungry.” She sat up and Soma followed suite and the two headed into the cabin with the pumpkin.

***

               “You may now kiss the bride.”

               As Aria and Soma shared their first kiss of being married, the children in the audience let out a bunch of “ewwwws” in response.

               Aria had to laugh and even Soma looked amused by their reaction. She looked out into the applauding crowd. Her Cradle Unit mixed with people from the Far East branch, mixed with her family in the orphanage.

               “Are you crying?” She looked to her left where her brother had been standing after he walked her down the aisle.

               “No! I just have something in my eye.” Jun rubbed his eyes.

               Aria chuckled and looked back at Soma. No, her husband. Her husband that was staring back at her and not at the crowd of people cheering them on.

               Her face flushed as she thought of their plans for later tonight and she had to look away.

               “You ready for the reception?” he asked.

               Aria grinned. “I’m the Captain of the Cradle Unit. What do you take me for?”

               He chuckled. “Of course Captain. Lead the way.”

               “Uh, I don’t think that’s happening.” She smiled as Alisa came over to help gather the train of the dress. Aria was still not sure where Alisa and Sakuya found this thing. Sure it was modest enough for Aria’s taste but the train of the dress gathered on the ground and Aria felt terrible for having subjected it to the dusty grounds of the Outer Ghetto.

               “Don’t worry, I got it Captain,” Alisa said proudly.

               “And I got your shoes.” Sakuya held up the pair of heels Aria had abandoned earlier.

               “And I got the fighting spirit!” Kota pumped his fist into the sky.

               “Well come on, let’s get to the party! I want to drink it up!” yelled Lindow.

               Aria Schicksal kept her grip tight in Soma’s as the two of them took a step forward, into whatever the future brought for them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This starts the chapters in the God Eater 3 timeline. I'm keeping stuff about Ein a bit vague since we're still waiting for DLC(and I would rather not retcon if I don't have too, haha)

Things were weird now.

               Hugo didn’t know how else to describe it. He leaned on the railing of the second floor of the bridge and watched Keena talk to Amy on the first floor. Like always Phym was her shadow, the aragami girl attentive to what her “mother” was doing. There was nothing different about Keena. Her long brown hair was still in that messy style, she wore the same brown coat she always did. It wasn’t like there were any new scars on her or something.

               But there was something…. different. Hugo didn’t know what it was. It was like he was hyperaware of her now. Whenever she was in his vicinity, it was like it was like the air was charged. Which unfortunately for him was very often as she was the unofficial co-leader of the Hounds.

               “Hey Hugo, you ready to go?”

               He startled as the person he was thinking about walked over to him. Keena tilted her head slightly as her gray eyes looked him over. “You okay? It’s not like you to space out like that.”

               “Fine, I’m fine,” he replied quickly. He ran his fingers through his hair to buy him a bit of time to recollect his thoughts. And to try to not be hyper aware of how her concerned smile was sending flutters into his stomach. “We’re just clearing out a few simple Aragami right?”

               Keena nodded. “Just some Kongous, nothing too major. Just have to clear the way so we can get to Dusty Miller.”

               “Right.” The Chrysanthemum was on its way to that port now due to Ein wanting to pick up a few things from his port and the caravan needed to restock and Ein’s was the closest.

               “Is Hugo okay? Does your tummy hurt?” Phym looked up with him with concern that mirrored Keena.

               Hugo kneeled in front of her and patted her head. “I’m fine. Just didn’t get as much sleep last night. Don’t worry Keena, I’ll be fine, it won’t affect the mission. Let’s go.”

***

               Keena could tell there was something off with Hugo. It wasn’t anything tangible per-say.  But he was different around her. They had been together for years, as AGES in Pennywort and now on the Chrysanthemum. He was always looking out for everyone and focused on getting a better future but that was normal for him. She was used to that.

               There was something else now. A weird wall that wasn’t between them before.

               Thankfully whatever it was didn’t affect them in battle. Hugo supported and fought like he always did. Kongous were no trouble at all and the group returned to the caravan with plenty of time to spare.

               “We should reach Dusty Miller in about an hour or so,” said Amy.

               “Great,” replied Ein. “I already called on ahead so they should be expecting us.”

               “Great, getting everything restocked will help us out a lot,” said Hugo. “And hopefully a day or two of rest can help focus Zeke. Honestly, can you talk to him about staying up so late?”

               Keena shrugged. “I try but he’s really into the Bugarally show.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ein had a small smile on his face. Did Ein like Bugarally? Keena had tried watching an episode or two but it looked really stupid to her.

               “Oh Hugo, you got some dirt in your hair.” Keena reached out but Hugo jumped back as if her hand was an Aragami or something.

               “Sorry,” he said quickly, his face flushing red. He ran his fingers through his hair quickly. “Did I get it?”

               Keena nodded. “Yeah.” She pulled her hand away, even more confused and hurt. She had done that before and she never got this kind of reaction out of him.

               “Whoa, hang on a moment.” Amy began typing on her computer. “Vajra in front of us.”

               “A vajra?” Hugo asked in surprise.

               “We thought it wasn’t going to cross our path so we ignored it, so it looks like…”

               “Looks like?” prompted Keena when Amy didn’t continue.

               “Sorry but it looks like the Vajra was defeated.” The surprise was evident on Amy’s face.

               “Defeated?” Hugo and Keena exchanged looks. That…that was fast! Hounds level fast.

               “How many God Eaters do you sense out there?” Ein stepped forward.

               “How many?” Amy’s brow furrowed. “It seems like there is one the radar is picking up?”

               “Only one!?” Hugo’s eyes widen.

               Ein grumbled something under his breath. “Open a channel for me.”

               “Huh? Okay, sure.”

               Amy handed him a comm.

               Ein’s expression was cloudy. “Mia, if this is you, stay right there, we’re coming to pick you up.” Ein listened for a moment and then snapped, “No, you stay right there. We’re coming to get you.” He handed the comm back to Amy and said in a much softer voice. “I’m sorry for overstepping my bounds but the God Eater out there is part of my port. If it isn’t too much trouble, we can pick her up on the way to the port?”

               “Sure, that’s no problem,” said Amy. “I’ll let Hilda know.”

               “You can tell Hilda we’re picking up Mia.” Ein then walked away, probably to receive the God Eater.

               “What in the world was that?” asked Hugo as they watched Ein go.

               Keena shook her head. “I have no idea.”

               While Amy spoke with this mysterious God Eater to set up a rendezvous point, the other AGEs on board gathered to meet this God Eater. They were all curious about this God Eater that was able to kill a Vajra quickly. Also, the fact that non-talkative Ein took the initiative to bring this God Eater on board without asking first was curious.

               The one that walked in through the hold, based on her armlet was a New-Type God Eater, a short sword God Arc over a shoulder. She was on the older side, closer to Ein’s age. Her black hair barely crested her shoulders, a streak of white running through it. She was clad in a tank top and slacks. Keenas’ attention though was drawn to the woman’s right side. Dark scars ran along her right arm and shoulders and seemed to extend further down her side. Only her face appeared spared on that side.

               “Oh wow, looks like there is a welcome party,” she said with a laugh, taking in the people gathered before her. “It’s nice to meet the famous Hounds.”

               Before any of the Hounds could say anything, Ein stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “Come on, you’re going to the medical ward.”

               “Whoa, hang on wait Ein!” However, the woman’s protests were unheeded as Ein dragged her out of the room.

               “That was…different,” commented Lulu as they watched Ein drag this poor woman with him.

               “Should we uh, help her or something?” asked Claire. “She really did not seem like she wanted to go with him.”

               “I mean should we even get involved? This is business of his port,” commented Hugo.

               “What is business?” Hilda walked into the room and looked around. “Ah, with Ein not here, I’m assuming he dragged Mia to the medical ward.”

               “Yeah,” commented Zeke. “That happened. Really was not expecting that from him.”

               Hilda chuckled. “Well he is very protective of his wife.”

               “Oh of course, protective of his wife…HIS WIFE!?” Zeke yelled.

***

               “Sit there,” snapped Soma as he half threw Aria in a medical bed.

               “I’m fine Ein, really,” Aria replied gently. “With the recent reduction of Ashblight, I can go out without needing to use the bias factor.” It was felt weird calling him Ein and him referring to her as Mia but it was for their own protection. The only time they used their real names was behind closed doors in their own port.

               “It doesn’t matter, you were dousing yourself with the P53-c bias factor for years to fight in the Ashlands. You aren’t fine. I’ve told you over and over to rest and not push yourself. It’s already bad enough you were using that stuff to fight in the Ashlands. Here, breathe in and out for me.”

               Aria knew there was no point in waste in her breath in fighting with him right now. So, she complied as he went through the medical checkup. “Ein, the Ashblight isn’t bad now as it was before,” she whispered as he checked the muscles in her arm for deterioration “I can fight again. Actually fight.” Fighting in the Ashlands had been a challenge. After every time she went out, she needed to rest for a few days, so her body was able to recover from the bias factor. He worried about her then too, even more so.

               “But still, there can be long term side effects. We don’t know what kind of effect it will have on the body over the long-term.” He gently cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t know what I would do if I came back and you weren’t there.”

               She rested her hands over his. “Same for you too.” She pulled away and cupped her hand around the left side of his face and gently ran her thumb along his scar, everything she wanted to say left unsaid in the memory of what happened then.  Same with the scars that now coated the right side of her body.

               “The AGEs kids are strong.” Soma smirked. “They remind me of us back then.”

               “Well it’s good to know you are in good hands then.” Aria had read the reports Soma had sent her about the God Eaters aboard the Chrysanthemum. She was curious and excited to finally get to meet them but of course Soma had to make sure she was alright first.

               “Am I free to go now Doctor Ein?”

               He gave her a deadpan look in response. “Unfortunately, if I feel like if I don’t, you’re going to sneak away and fight an Ashborn or something.”

               “Well with the data you bought off of the AGEs, I think I can take one on right now.” She hopped off the bed. “Kidding, kidding,” she said quickly when she saw the expression on his face.  “I’ll only fight one if it gets close to the port and there’s no other choice.”

               “Probably the best answer I’m going to get,” he said with a sigh.

               She smiled. “Of course. I have to be my reckless self like always.” Out of habit, she began fixing up Soma’s coat and scarf. “I’m surprised you’re still wearing this. It was a joke present.”

               “Because you gave to me,” he replied. His attention shifted to the wallet chain attached to her belt loops. “You’re still wearing that.”

               She touched it absentmindedly before focusing on him. “Okay fine. You win. Anyway, since I’m here, want to show me around?”

***

               “Really wonder where Ein was hiding a God Eater with that kind of strength.” Hugo leaned on the railing next to Keena.  The rest of the Hounds were gathered around Mia. Hugo could tell Mia was a leader type. She just attracted people towards her. Even Phym was curious. Sure, she was clutching Claire’s leg, but Mia was obviously slowly winning her over.

               “I dunno but based on the combat data in the system…” Keena shook her head.

 Like Ein, there wasn’t much for Mia in terms of a combat record but from what was in there, Mia was _strong_. Like to the point that psions didn’t bother her and Hugo wondered if Mia could take on an Ashborn and win.

               “Yeah, it’s intense. Keith was also commenting about her God Arc. Apparently it’s an old model and he was surprised how well it still functioned,” said Hugo.

               “Those two are two peas in a pod.” Keena grinned and gestured to Ein who was hovering nearby without appearing like he was. Sure he looked nonchalant but Hugo caught the way Ein’s attention was focused on her, his expression softer than Hugo had ever seen it. Every now and then Mia would glance in his direction and they would share a smile before Mia continued the conversation before her.

               Was that what people in love did?

               Whoa hang on, why did he care about something like that?

               “We’re pulling into Dusty Miller now!” Amy’s voice announced over the speakers. “Everyone to your stations.”

               “Well, time to get to work,” commented Hugo.

               Phym hurried over to Keena. “Mommy!”

               Keena kneeled and gave the girl a hug.

               “Hey Hugo, I wanted to talk to you a bit.” Mia approached Hugo as the caravan began the docking procedures in the port.

               “Talk to me?” Hugo asked in surprise.

               Mia nodded. “Yeah, I have questions about the Ashborn and the data Ein bought off of you. Of course, we can make this a business transaction as well.”

               “Of course,” said Hugo. “But are you allowed to do transactions…”

               Mia laughed. “Who do you think runs this place while Ein is traveling with you? Honestly, he has the head for research and whatnot but people management is more my thing. Anyway, Ein can take care of the restocking and what not, you mind coming to the office?”

               After telling Hilda where he was going, Hugo got a tablet with their Ashborn data before following Mia into the heart of the Dusty Miller port. She led him up to an office in a corner space. Despite the small space, it was surprisingly neat and organized, the walls filled with bookshelves and other knickknacks. He also spotted a few picture frames on the shelves.

               Mia collapsed on a chair and gestured for Hugo to sit in the other one. She grabbed a notebook and opened it to a blank page. “Alright, if I ask questions that you can’t answer because you haven’t sold the information yet, let me know so I can buy it.”

               Mia was surprisingly inquisitive. Hugo was shocked with how detailed her questions was and she demanded responses just as detailed. Details about what Ashborn looked like up close, how they fought, areas they were found in, she seemed to be hungry for the information and Hugo gave it to her. A few times they made transactions, Mia paying the same amount that Ein did for information. It was also a good thing that Mia had drinks in the fridge in the room because Hugo’s voice would have been gone if there weren’t any.

               “I think I’ve told you everything we know about the Ashborn.”

               “Seems like it too.” Mia flipped through the pages of her notebook. It was now filled with notes upon notes detailing everything Hugo said. He didn’t know anyone could write that fast. She grinned at him. “You mind if I ask some questions about the Hounds? Ein has told me about you, but I want to learn more from you. Especially about engage.”

               Hugo hesitated.

               “Oh, it’s not like I’m going to use it for anything nefarious. I’m just curious.  We have a couple of AGEs here at Dusty Miller and I want to make sure they are doing well.”

               “I think you’re already doing a good job.” Hugo could tell that Mia, along with Ein were some of the “good ones”. Neither of them had spoken down on him or the others for being AGEs.

               “Well that’s good to hear. You mind if I speak with Keena?”

               “You want to speak with her? Why are you asking me?”

               She smiled. “Because you are obviously the leader. And I can tell you worry about her.”

               “Worry?”

               “Maybe worry is not the right word.” Mia frowned for a moment and then stared at Hugo thoughtfully. Something seemed to occur to her as she blinked slowly. “You don’t…. you don’t know your own feelings towards her to you?”

               “My feelings?”

               “Wow, now I know how it feels to be on the other side of it,” Mia murmured.

               “Huh? What are you talking about?”

               Mia scratched the back of her head before dropping her notebook on the table and leaning towards him. “I usually would not say anything, but I was in your shoes a long time ago and I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble due to your feelings like I did.”

               “Uh…okay?”

               She smiled gently. “You love Keena don’t you?”

               “Of course, I do,” Hugo replied with a scoff. “She’s my right hand.”

               “I don’t mean love in a sibling sort of way.”

               Hugo paused and stared at Mia. Wait what. Love? It couldn’t be. “I don’t….” His face flushed.

               Mia chuckled and got up. “Do with it what you wish. Just thought I would help you along. Just make sure you don’t regret it okay?” She winked.

               Hugo, on the other hand, just sat there with the revelation he just had. That…that had to be it right? Did he ever really view her as a sibling? Even as a kid, she had been strong. Sure, he encouraged her but she was always the one getting up when things were bad. Even when Pennyworth forced them to scavenge, she was the one that would pick him up and drag him back to base if he couldn’t make it. And now, in Chrysanthemum, she was still by his side, fighting alongside him. Maybe back then he didn’t think too much of it as survival was more important but now that things were relatively calmer…

               “I’m sorry, I seemed to have broken your brain or something.”

               “Oh, not at all!” Hugo scrambled to his feet, his face burning with all the thoughts swirling in his head. “I uh, thank you. Thank you for uh, I guess telling me something I didn’t know.”

               Mia smiled. “Like I said, do with it what you must.”

               Hugo nodded. “Right.” He walked out of the office, paused and turned back. “If you don’t mind me asking…what happened when you and Ein…?”

               Mai chuckled and leaned against the doorframe. “Well, it was sort of a mess. He was the one that confessed to me, but I had liked him for a long time beforehand.” She shrugged. “There were other circumstances going on, but to make a long story short, there was a different girl that I thought he had feelings for, so I was content in keeping my feelings to myself. Well until he confessed to me.

               “But you do what you feel is right. Everyone is different after all.”

               Hugo nodded before heading back to the ash crawler, his thoughts swirling in his head. What was he going to do?


	10. Chapter 10

“You seem happy,” commented Soma as Aria walked into their room. The Chrysanthemum was all packed up and ready to go and they would leave tomorrow. Soma had a feeling this had something to do with giving him time with Aria as Hilda gave him a knowing look when she announced the departure time.

               Aria shrugged. “I don’t know if happy is the word, but I might have shifted some relationships on the caravan.”

               Soma blinked slowly. “You pointed it out to Hugo that he loves Keena didn’t you?”

               “Don’t look at me like that! I hesitated at first but then remembered everything that happened between us. I mean, Hugo didn’t even realize he had feelings for her in the first place. Giving him a name for it means he can do something with it.”

               That was true. He just hoped this would not affect Hugo’s working relationship with Keena. Although he had already seen how Hugo acted when they weren’t on duty. It was painfully obvious to Soma how Hugo felt about her. He had to smile at the thought. Years ago, he would never have picked up on something like this.

               “Oh your bangs are getting a bit long, you want me to trim them before you go?” Aria leaned into his face and gently brushed the bangs out of his face.

               “If you don’t mind.”

               She grinned. “Of course not.”

               He shrugged off his coat and scarf and grabbed a cloth from the closet to lay on the floor. He pulled his hair out of its ponytail, knowing she would want to trim the length on the back too. “How are the kids doing?”

               “Doing well. Jun is making sure the AGEs kids are caught up to the normal kids education wise.” Aria sat behind him and slowly began brushing out his hair before starting to trim the bottom.  Jun had joined them once Dusty Miller was established and he worked hard to run the orphanage here for children. It also made Soma feel a little better about leaving Aria alone while he was on the Chrysanthemum. Her brother could somewhat hold her back from doing crazy things. Somewhat.

               “And how about you?” he asked.

               “Me? I’m doing fine like always. Remember? You did do a check-up on my before.” She finished up the back and slid around to the front to work on his bangs. He had to smile at her serious expression as she began working on trimming his bangs. Her hair slipped out from behind her ear, the white strands brushing across her face. A remnant from the same incident that gave her the scars on her right side. He wanted to reach out and put the hair behind her ear but the last time he moved when she was cutting his hair, she had gotten incredibly annoyed and he lost a bit more of his bangs than what was the original plan.

               She leaned back and observed her handiwork with a frown. A slight adjustment here and a snip there and she seemed satisfied. “There. All done.”

               He watched as she put away the scissors and comb. “It’s like back when we were in Cradle.”

               “Huh?” She looked back at him.

               “With our missions and whatnot. We saw each other rarely. That’s kind of what’s going on now.”

               “Oh, yeah, that’s true.” She crossed her arms and looked to the side. “I got kind of used to having you around so often that it’s kind of weird going back to that. Oh, but not like I’m saying you should stay here! Go do your research and whatnot. I’ll hold down the fort.”

               He stood and walked over to her, embracing her in a deep hug, burying his head into her shoulder. “I miss you when I’m not here.”

               She rubbed lazy circles into his back. “I’ll make us some tea so we can chat a bit.”

               He held on for a moment longer but releasing her so she could make the tea. No matter how much he tried, he could never get it to taste like how she made it.

               Aria joined him on the couch when the tea was complete, and she handed him a steaming cup. “Aria special tea, coming right up!”

               He took a sip, relishing in the tea. This was the tea he always remembered.

               “Phym reminds me of Shio.”

               Soma startled. He looked at Aria, unsure of what he could say.

               “I don’t mean anything bad by it,” she said quickly. “Just an observation.” Her expression turned gentle. “And if I thought of that, I assume you did as well.”

               “She isn’t Shio.”

               “Of course not.”

               Soma smiled. “But I’m glad they found a way to protect her for now.” Was there a possibility that Keena’s engage ability would have saved Shio from her fate? No, there was no point in thinking like that. The AGEs came around due to the Ashlands. There was no chance that, that would be a way to save Shio.

               He shook his head. This was not the time for thoughts like this. “Tell me what’s been going on while I was gone.”

               Aria leaned into him before she began giving a very detailed update on everything happening in Dusty Miller.  Not just official reports but stories. Stories of their friends, stuff some of the children did, some of her missions out in the Ashlands, mostly mundane things but he enjoyed it. He got to listen to her voice, something he had not heard in a while.

               “It’s getting late, we should probably get to bed soon,” said Aria. Their cups had long since been emptied.

               Soma had his arms around her, in a half-hug, as they sat on the couch and chatted. He nuzzled his face into her neck. “Hilda won’t have me on duty tomorrow.”

               “You seem so sure about that.”

               He chuckled. “I think she gave me the night so I could spend it with you.”

               Aria blinked slowly and then laughed. “Alright, alright, you convinced me.” She turned so she was facing him before locking her lips with his.

***

               “Man, are you feeling okay? You aren’t coming down with something right?” Zeke was half hanging off the top bunk to look at Hugo on the bed below him.

               “I’m fine!” Hugo frowned up at Zeke.

               “I don’t know, you were sighing ever since you came back from that meeting with Mia.” Ricardo was lounging on his bed.

               Zeke grinned. “Oh man, do you have a crush on her or something?  Didn’t take you for someone that was into older women. She is married though, and I don’t think Ein would be too happy with you making moves on his wife.”

               “Zeke, it’s not that!” Hugo snapped. However, it seemed like that had the opposite effect on Zeke as the fellow AGE’s grin got wider.

               Hugo grimanced and sat up. “I’m going for a walk.”

               “Course you are.”

               As Hugo left the boys dorm, he heard Ricardo say, “Zeke, I think you went a little too far in the teasing there.”

               Hugo sighed as he took the elevator up to the bridge. And startled as he noticed Keena leaning against the railing. 

               Unfortunately, she had noticed him and she waved before he could get a chance to push the elevator button to get himself out of there.

               “Phym isn’t with you?” He looked around but didn’t see the aragami girl anywhere.

               “She wanted to sleep with Claire tonight.”  Keena shrugged and took a sip out of the can she had been holding.

               “Love juice?” Hugo read the label in confusion.

               Keena nodded. “Apparently it’s something local to Dusty Miller. Mia showed it to me during our chat. She found it quite weird that I liked it and gave me a couple of packs of them.” She held out the can. “You want to taste?”           

               Hugo reached for the can and then paused, Mia’s words echoing in his mind. She had drunk out of the can. If he drank out of it, it would be like an indirect kiss right? Damn it, he never cared about this before.

               “Hugo, what’s going on?” She put the can down and crossed her arms.

               “What do you mean? Nothing’s going on.’”

               She slowly raised an eyebrow. “Hugo, you’ve been avoiding me.”

               “No, I haven’t! We’re talking right now.”

               Keena let out a long sigh. “We’re talking but not really talking. Hugo, you’re the leader of the Hounds. I can’t really be your right-hand unless you trust me and it seems like recently, you haven’t been trusting me.” She silenced his protest with a look. “And I don’t mean in battle but outside of it.”

               He grimanced and look away. They knew each other too well.

               “What’s been going on?” she asked softly.

               Hugo look at her and then away. The air had that weird charged feeling to it. “Keena,” he began slowly. “Do you have anyone you like?”

               “Like? I mean I like everyone here on the Chrysanthemum.”

               “No, I mean, more than like. Romantically.” He had to look away as she gave him a funny look. “I know, it’s weird, forget it.”

               “Oh no you don’t.” She grabbed his arm before he could escape. “Hugo, there has to be a reason you brought this up. You worried about how Phym would react if I was in a relationship with someone?”

               “Not Phym exactly,” murmured Hugo. However, he knew he had to give her something or she would not release the death grip on his arm. And he technically could not outrun her either. He sighed and looked her in the eye, hoping to draw some of her courage and strength for this. “Keena, if I told you I liked you, how you respond?”

               She seemed taken aback by his response. “I like you too? I mean we’ve been friends for years so it would be kind of upsetting if I didn’t enjoy your company.” She frowned. “However I don’t think…” Her eyes filled with clarity. “Hang on…Hugo…”

               He could not look her in the eye. “I didn’t really notice it until pretty recently. I mean, I guess until Mia pointed it out but it has been there…”

               Keena released his arm. “Well, I guess I’ll say I’m flattered?” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m just…I wasn’t expecting that one.”

               Hugo rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it to happen either-not because you aren’t great and all. You’re amazing at fighting and you’re a great support and you are cute and I do like how you style your hair and-”

               The rest of his words were cut off as Keena gave him a quick peck on the lips.

               He looked at her in surprise. She shrugged.  “Never really thought of it much myself either but…” Her face flushed as she pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. “You have always looked out for everyone, including me. And that’s one of the things I have always liked about you.” She smiled gently at him. “I don’t know if I can call it ‘love’ but I do like you Hugo and we can try it I guess?”

               He smiled. “Well that’s better than nothing right?” His expression turned serious. “But really, I don’t want you to be forced into something you don’t want to do. You don’t have to say yes because I am the leader of the Hounds.”

               She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow.

               Right. Even though she was his right-hand, she was no push-over. There was a reason they worked well as a team.

               “Well, I should probably get back to the room before Lulu and Claire wonder where I went.”

               “Uh, right.” Hugo jumped as Keena gave him another quick peck on the lips.

               She chuckled. “You know, for someone that did the confessing…”

               “I’m getting used to the idea alright!?” he protested.

               “Right, right.” She gestured to her can of Love juice. “You want it?”

               He nodded and picked up the can and took a sip. Huh, that was actually pretty good.

***

               “There you are Ein, I thought we were going to leave without you,” commented Hilda as Ein hurried onto the caravan.

               “Sorry,” he mumbled.

               Keena surprised to see dark circles rimming his eyes. Wouldn’t he get some rest in his own port? Or maybe there was a lot of paperwork and stuff piled up since he was away from it for long periods of time?

               “Well at least you made it so we can push off now. Amy, set our course.”

               “Roger.”

               Keena walked over to the scanner and sat down so they would be able to plot a course to their next destination. Once the scan was complete, she hopped off and spotted Hugo talking to Amy.

               “We got work to do?” she asked.

               Hugo turned to her and nodded, all traces of awkwardness between them gone. Other than cementing a possible romantic relationship, they decided it would be best to keep quiet about it for now. Who knew how long this relationship would last and Keena wasn’t sure if she felt the same way about Hugo as he about her.

But for now, she would enjoy this while it lasted.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter after the events of the "Another Devil" post story. I'm still holding back on writing much since there is more DLC to come(I need answers Ein!).

Keena was worried about Hugo.

She watched him from the second floor of the bridge as he talked to Zeke and Lulu. His movements weren’t as fluid as they used to be since the attack by the Ash Storm Anubis.  Sure, the Hounds now had a way to counteract the danger but that didn’t change the fact that Hugo was out of commission for a little while. She hated seeing him in pain like that.

“Mommy?” Phym reached out and grasped the side of Keena’s jacket, her round red eyes looking up at Keena in concern. “Mommy seems scared?”

“I’m alright Phym.” Keena patted the aragami girl on the head. “I’m just thinking.”

“Thinking not happy thoughts?”

Keena grimanced.  “I was but now I’m thinking happy thoughts.” She smiled and Phym smiled back.

“Yay! I’m glad Mommy!”

“What’s so glad?” Hugo walked up the flight of stairs and glanced over at them. His eyes caught Keena and he smiled at her.

She gave him a small smile back, but she could see it didn’t have the same spark it used to.

“Mommy has happy thoughts!” Phym grabbed Keena’s arm and hugged it tightly.

“Well it’s great your mom has happy thoughts. I know she’ll be using those happy thoughts to help her on the next mission.”

“Are you going with us?” asked Keena.

Hugo nodded.

Keena gritted her teeth. She kneeled in front of Phym. “Can you see what Claire is up to and tell me?”

“Claire? Okay Mommy.”

“What was that about?” asked Hugo as he watched Phym scamper away.

“We need to talk Hugo,” Keena replied quietly. She gestured for Hugo to follow her to the storage room to give them some privacy.

***

This was very unlike Keena. Hugo could tell something was bothering her. It was in the set of her shoulders and how she kept looking back at him to make sure he was following her. They entered the storage room and she whirled around to face him and crossed her arms.

“Hugo, how are you feeling?’”

“Feeling?” He chuckled. “What do you mean Keena? Like right this second? Confused to be perfectly honest.”

She stared him down.

He let out a long sigh. It was worth a shot. “I’m still not one hundred percent if that’s what you’re asking.” He flexed his right hand. It still tingled a bit and he did get bouts of pain every now and then but it was fine, manageable even.

“Hugo, you should not be going out to the field until the Ashblight is out of your system.”

“I think this is the best it’s going to get for now. Really, I’m okay Keena. It’s nothing too serious.” He reached out but she backed up a step. He pulled his hand back, hurt. Wasn’t this what couples were supposed to do? Take care of each other? Sure, they didn’t do much of that in general, their relationship shift from close friends to dating a secret for now. Well, a secret that everyone seemed to know based on the comments he heard around the Chrysanthemum.

“I won’t always be out there to watch your back,” she said softly.

And in that moment he realized the amount of worry and fear that probably went through her when she saw him struggling after the Ashblight entered his system. He reached out to her again and this time she let him take her hand. “I’m alright Keena. Everything turned out fine. It’s for our dream after all. And remember, we did succeed. Our dream is going to become a reality.”

“It is,” she agreed. “But you would have tried to go out with us if Neal didn’t step up.” She tightened her grip around his hand. “You gave tactical command to me when I am on the field. Rest for a little while longer, please Hugo.”

He knew she was right. He was pushing himself harder than he should be in his condition but just sitting around felt odd to him.

“I don’t want to see this dream being realized without you here with us,” she said quietly.

He startled. Keena was generally very open with him and even Zeke since they had been together for so long but this, this was more to these words. He let his shoulders drop. “Duly noted. I’ll rest a little longer.”

She smiled. “Good.”

“If you promise me you’ll do the same in the future if anything like this happens to you.”

She smirked. “I doubt that would happen.”

“Probably but can you promise me that?”

She smiled and nodded. “Of course. I promise.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he kissed her on the cheek.

She put a hand on her cheek in surprise. “Hugo…”

“Listen, you can’t always be the one initiating everything…” In the few private moments they had she had always been the one to give him a quick kiss here and there.

She looked like she was about to give him a kiss back when the door to the storage room opened and Phym peered inside. “There you are Mommy!”

Hugo and Keena exchanged looks and laughed as Phym approached, as innocent as ever.

Phym looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you doing?”

“We were just hiding Phym but you found us.” Keena rubbed the top of Phym’s head.

Hugo grinned. “Good job Phym.”

Phym laughed. “I did a good job? Yay!”

Keena looked up at Hugo and he nodded. “Right, I’ll let Amy know to take me off the next mission.”

He ruffled Phym’s hair before walking out of the storage room.


End file.
